7 Souls: Save
by Pep Pizza
Summary: Our protagonist is back and determined not to let the timeline go down the same genocidal path again. However, Chara has gone missing. And not to mention, there's more challenges yet to be faced, unsolved mysteries yet to be solved, and people who need to be saved. However, can this all really be done in just one try? Perhaps more than two resets will be needed to fix this mess...
1. A Memory?

**If you're here from 7 Souls: Determination, you're in the right place!** **However, if this is your first time hearing about this series, you should read the first one first! You can find it on my profile titled, "7 Souls."**

 **And dunno if this chapter's really even relevant to the story that much, but I just like imagery. :P**

* * *

The world is passing by in a blur of memories.

Thoughts in my mind are zooming through so quickly that I can't comprehend them, and images are flying past so fast that I can barely pinpoint them. Here, I will find the answers.

Loud barking. Chilling smiles. Soft laughs. Wind rushes at me, sucking me into a black void below, where I'll be brought to another place. But where?

And suddenly, everything is still. Very still.

And just like that, the first image appears.

The three of us together in the room before the Toriel fight, but the Ribbon girl isn't there. The blonde-haired one says she can't come with me. The glasses boy wants to stay and she wants to accompany him. She would rather stay with him than help me.

Anger fills me. Before I know it, there is a knife in my hand, and the carpet is turning a sickly red.

Environment switch. I'm not in a room anymore, instead it's all a white landscape. Flurries of snow falling down to form little piles of ice upon the path. It's surprisingly not cold, although the scene sends shivers down my back. There are two figures ahead. I hear a low chuckle next to me, but when I turn, there is no one there.

Once I'm facing forwards again, I realize one of the figures had rushed back. It was the ribbon girl, except for the fact that she wasn't wearing it. Fist raised, she screams at me. She yells preposterous things at me. I don't get it. So I swing my arm. The other monster-lover is up ahead. She runs back with wide eyes, but she slips on a piece of ice and cracks her head. I walk past her.

…right into a cool, blue hallway. Sparkly stones embed themselves into the walls and the ceiling. There is a boy in front of me. He wears a cowboy hat. He starts to move his arm upwards. I am suddenly terrified. I raise the gun and the bullet is sent flying.

But before it makes impact, I'm sent to a dark room. I've never been here before, but I turn to the center like I know where it is. Awaiting me is a scene of a tall boy in an orange T-shirt. There's a red trident through his body. Before I can react, more blue spears appear from nowhere and jut themselves into the boy. He gags, and I shut my eyes in confusion.

When they're open again, the area around me is a comforting orange. So it was all a dream? I sit upon a stool, and there stands a fire bartender across from me. The elemental monster simply motions to the side. I look, and there is a skeleton.

His posture is slack, but his eye sockets are black with rage. He lifts the red scarf to my face. There's dust. I resist sneezing. He's saying something. I can't hear him, but for some reason, I can guess it.

 _You dirty brother killer._

I shake my head to deny it, but when I look again, there's a bone Blaster facing me.

As I am disintegrated to oblivion in the black void, I let the broken pieces of my soul drift off to hell with me.

* * *

 **The next few chapters should come out pretty quick. I've already written all of them out already. But after that, idk about updating patterns. It'll fluctuate, maybe more hiatus's will ensue, who knows? What'll happen will happen.**


	2. We're Back

I'm falling and falling and falling in the darkness. The world feels at peace; like an important issue's been resolved, but I don't know what or why. Where am I? Why is it so dark? I scrunch my eyelids together in concentration, trying to figure out why, until I realize…

Oh wait, my eyes are closed.

I snap them open, and light blinds my eyes but I'm still falling and falling.

And as much as I want to flail my legs and flap arms like a chicken, something in me is telling me to hold on. I've gotta hold on… but to what?

My grip instinctively tightens on the straps around my shoulders, and I suddenly understand. Purpose fills me as the wind rushes past me like a vacuum sucking me into its little whirlwind of doom.

* * *

I blink the weariness out of my eyes as the sun filters through the hole above me. I'm laying on something soft and yellow. Flowers? I make a move to get up, but my head starts to swim and I fall back down.

Franticness suddenly grabs ahold of me, and I rush my hand to feel the back of my head. There is no bump.

Relief swarms me at this realization. I've remembered this time. The flowers, having been fallen on by six humans in a row, was basically nothing when it was my time to fall. The only thing I had to do was to hold onto the backpack so that it instead could cushion my fall; that was all.

Fear suddenly fills me. If such little things could determine the entire fate of a timeline, I would have to be more careful. I couldn't just go around getting resets and risking the chance that I might forget again and repeat time.

But then I freeze, and I turn to the side, my gaze searching. After a few moments of finding nothing, uneasiness fills me.

Flowey didn't show up this time. And Chara's not here either. I'm alone.

Anxiety fizzles in my veins. Chara. She was with me on the last timeline, and that had been… devastating. My brain wants to flood and I am curious on looking back myself, but at the same time, I am terrified. I don't want to remember. I don't want to look back. I don't want to see it all again.

Something is threatening to spill over, and I am afraid. I rest my body in the flowers and shut my eyes and tighten my fists, trying to close it all out. Maybe if I go to sleep, I will forget it all. It will be as if it had never happened.

...yeah right.

* * *

When my eyes open again, the area around me is dark.

I hesitantly move myself to my knees. Though I was wobbly, I managed to get up on my feet. I brush the petals off my sweatshirt and flick my hair behind my shoulder to get it out of the way, and I am momentarily confused by its length until I remember that this is a Reset. The short hair in the first run will all be forgotten now.

I sigh wearily, already dreading the hallway into which I would have to walk. What would happen this time? Surely nothing bad, I hoped. My footsteps echo through the cavern as I slowly, very slowly trudge to the room with the patch of grass.

Nothing suspicious. I start to enter, but come to a panicked stop when a yellow flower emerges from the green strands. "Really, Chara?" Flowey smirks, but waves a leaf encouragingly. "Well, do what you will. I'll be waiting for you!"

Without even a moment to react, he slips back into the ground, leaving me by myself. Just the word _Chara_ sends shivers down my back, but I growl rebelliously and charge onwards.

I pass by everything without really casting them a glance. None of them really matter at this point. But by the end of the extremely long hall, I meet a familiar face. This time, I am not surprised by Toriel's appearance, but her warm smile creates bitterness inside me. I try to keep my distance away. I am afraid of what I am capable of.

However, Toriel is encouraging. She leads me through the Ruins again, but this time, I just let her do the battles. I don't have the courage to face monsters again, and not to mention that I don't have time to be dealing with monsters when I've got somewhere to go. I barely notice Napstablook as I pass him, but he looks the same as the first run. Nothing different going on yet, so that's good.

However, Toriel seems to be deep in thought. "I have a feeling..." She murmurs quietly. "When humans fall down, strangely… I often feel like I already know them." She turns to me slightly. "Truthfully, when I first saw you, I felt like I was seeing an old friend for the first time." At my expression, she chuckles. "Strange, is it not?"

I nod to satisfy her, but inside, my heart rates had spiked slightly. This was a difference, and differences weren't good. Without any True Resets, everyone would still remember a little. Just a little, but every little bit was important. I gulp when I think to those waiting for me at Toriel's house. If they remembered…

A little longer, and we've made it. Seeing her humble home fills me with determination, but it also fills me with dread. Upon entering Toriel's humble home, the familiar setting comes back to me in waves of uneasiness. I check the floorboards for signs of blood and dust, just to make sure. Thankfully, it's devoid of any stains.

I flinch when she takes my hand, but it's only because I remember my knife slicing straight through her chest. She thankfully doesn't notice. I take deep breaths to calm myself, and my heart rate settles as she leads me to the door.

"This is it." She says kindly. "A room for you and the others! I hope you like it!"

"The others." I repeat, trying to remember how I had responded in the first run. "How many are left here?"

Toriel hesitates, something I don't remember seeing in the first run, before quickly exclaiming, "Is something burning…?" She gives me an apologetic smile. "Um, make yourself at home!" And thus, she leaves to attend to the kitchen.

I watch her leave, then slowly turn back to the door. How should I act? Normal? Indifferent? The wood stares back at me, daring me to open it. I slowly raise my hand to grab the handle. What should I say? My hand starts to turn the handle, but I freeze when the final question grabs me. Will Joyce be there?

Before I can even fully turn the handle, the door is yanked open and I let out a yelp before quickly letting go. On the other side I am greeted by a smile.

"Erisa!" Elaine cheers, her eyes shining. I am so surprised that I don't even have the time to correct her to Frisk.

"Wh-what?!" I exclaim, disbelieving and eyebrows knitted. "How did you know… why did you open the-"

"Foresight." She teases, her eyebrows wiggling.

"Really?" I gape in shock, mouth wide open.

"No, not really," Says another voice inside the room. It sounds like James. "We just heard an elephant storming around outside and guessed it was you."

I'm still scared that they might know, but James' terrible joke makes me frown with wry amusement.

"Really? Was that… necessary?" Elaine gives James a disapproving look. As she turns to face him, I get a better view of the room. I scour my eyes around the whole place, but it's just the three of us. Relief fills me.

"Kinda." James shrugs.

Elaine lets out a huff of annoyance before looking back at me. "I'm just glad you made it." She says, her eyes showing relief. "You were taking so long, I had just wondered if you were…" She gulps hesitantly.

"Dead." James puts out simply. I laugh a little at Elaine's reaction.

"Um," I start, wondering how I should put the question out. "So, how long are you guys planning to stay here, exactly? Like, you know, how long you're staying here in Toriel's home."

They give me a long, blank look. "N-not that long!" Elaine reassures me after a moment, but James narrows his eyes.

"Whoever said we were staying?" He raises an eyebrow.

Oh… right. "I was just wondering if we were going to stay long enough to get the pie slice." There, that should be explanatory enough.

James still looks unsettled, but Elaine nods quickly. "We're definitely staying for that."

"And then we leave?"

"Um…" Elaine looks pointedly over to James. "He's staying."

"Figures." I huff. "And you're going to stay with him, huh?" Elaine's eyes widen with surprise at my guess, but I wave my hand in dismissal. "That's fine. I'll just stay with you guys too, until you go, at least." I have many goals this run, but the first one on my list was definitely saving Elaine. And to do that, I was going to have to keep an eye on her at all times.

"Y-you don't have to wait for us!" Elaine immediately protests. She's so worried for my well-being that she doesn't even have the time to question how I've made these assumptions so well. "We might be staying here for a while, and it'll be a really long time, so you don't have to, um, wait for us or anything…" She stops when she sees me shaking my head.

"I'm staying." I say. "And I'll be with you guys until you decide to leave."

Elaine still looks hesitant, but James grins. "And our party becomes a trio of three." He cheers lazily, making jazz hands above his head.

"Yeah!" I nod agreeably, "We're like, the three musketeers now!" Elaine giggles quietly, and I smile a bit in return. "Say, any of you feeling tired?" _I_ certainly wasn't, but I was going to trigger them to go to bed somehow.

"A little." Elaine admits. "But is it nighttime?"

"Yeah, it is."

She doesn't question how I'm so sure. "Well, alright. I suppose we could all do with catching some Z's." She lets out a tiny yawn before flopping down onto her pillow on the rug. I slip off my backpack and cautiously head to the corner of the room to turn off the lamp. Out the corner of my eye, I see James flipping the covers over himself.

"Night, everyone." I grin eerily, then the light flicks shut.

* * *

 **Just a quick note, writing styles will change pretty often. I wrote these chapters within a _very_ long time span. 0-0**


	3. Home

"And a slice for you, my child. I hope you like it."

Toriel places a plate of pie on the table before me, smiling kindly and beaming rays of motherliness. The pie's scent wafts up to my nose, making my mouth water despite me trying to avoid getting too entranced. Cinnamon and butterscotch… Toriel's a _genius._ I nod thankfully before grabbing the fork. But suddenly, my hand is trembling. Afraid, I drop the utensil and it bounces off the tabletop once before rushing to the ground, clanking against the wooden boards.

Toriel looks surprised. Elaine and James stop momentarily to look up from their meals. Crumbs surround Elaine's mouth, which makes me grin sympathetically. They give me worried looks, but I try to reassure them with a wave of my hand. I sit on the edge of my chair and reach down to pick the fork back up, but once it is within reaching distance, I don't move. My hand is frozen in the air.

Seeing that my efforts are in vain, Toriel bends down herself to pick the utensil up.

"Sorry." I mumble.

"Do not worry, my child." She comforts me. "It was simply an accident. I can get you another one to replace it."

I nod quickly, but internally, I'm extremely unsettled. "Um." I start, raising a finger, "Is it possible to grab me a spoon instead?"

* * *

"Are you okay?"

We're in the front of Toriel's house, next to one of the leaf piles in her yard. Well, at least Elaine and I are. James is busy lazing about on one of the piles. He looks at peace, so we don't disturb him for the time being.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I answer.

"Really? I just want to make sure." Elaine prods on. "It's just that… _expression_ you made when you touched that fork. Like you were watching someone die or something." I freeze up, and Elaine gives me a knowing look. "See? It _is_ something! But what is it?"

It only takes me a moment to find an excuse. "Well," I smirk. "At the exact moment I reached for the fork, I just happened to notice someone's mouth covered with pie crumbs. It looked like there was enough to make a beard." I stroke my chin for extra emphasis.

Elaine blinks for a few moments before squealing and giving me a playful push. "Erisa!" She protests.

"Frisk." I correct.

She stops. "Frisk?"

"Yeah, stop calling me Erisa." I cross my arms and lean against the bark of the black tree. It looks burnt and there are no leaves on it. Touching it makes me feel a little dead inside, but I ignore the feeling. "I don't want to be called that down here."

Elaine hesitates, and having heard us, James finally raises himself from the leaf pile. There's some red leaves stuck in his hair, making him look like a clown. "Frisk?" He repeats doubtfully. "But won't that be confusing?"

"No."

He rolls his eyes. "What I _mean_ is, you're nothing like Frisk. First off, you're _way_ older. And secondly, your hair's _much_ longer. And third of all, you're _not_ Frisk." He grins. "Tsk, tsk… Identity theft."

"Well!" I huff, a little exasperated. "If _hair_ really is one-third of the reason, I think I can deal with that!" And thus, I march back into the house to find myself a pair of scissors.

There were no scissors. But I would've doubted my ability to hold one anyway.

* * *

"I think I'll pass." James frowns.

Toriel gives him a worried look as she sets the plate of pie on the table, but I don't blame him. I mean, who _would_ want to eat a pie made of snails? Well Toriel would, I guess, but that was besides the point. James continues to politely refuse, and after a while, Toriel just nods.

"I will get you something later." She promises, taking the plate away from its position in front of James. He makes a relieved expression once it's a good few feet away from him.

Then Toriel moves on to the next person. Elaine's expression is conflicted, and she looks over at me for help. It seems she's too kind to refuse, but she really doesn't want to eat the stuff. I just shrug and nod at her to accept the pie, because why not? Elaine seems to realize that I have no good reasons, and her expression becomes even more conflicted. Taking her silence as an agreement, Toriel places the pie in front of her anyway. Elaine nods meekly and Toriel asks me if I would like a slice.

"No thank you." I say. "I'll just get whatever James is getting."

"Are you sure, my child?"

"Positive."

Toriel makes an apologetic expression before heading back to the kitchen to get us something else. Elaine just stares at her slice, her hand slowly inching towards her fork on the table. She seems hesitant, and it wasn't hard to tell why. By the time Toriel came back, Elaine still hadn't managed to touch her fork.

"I'm very sorry," Toriel apologizes, revealing two candies from her palm. "The fridge is awfully empty; I've forgotten to go shopping ever since you've all arrived. I will go do that soon, but for now, I only have these candies. Will that be alright for you two?" At our blank expressions, she adds reassuringly, "It is monster's food, after all. Its magic can make you feel quite full."

We accept the candies. Toriel bids us goodbye so that she can go buy some groceries to fill the fridge, and we're left to finish eating. Once she's gone, Elaine lets out an exasperated sigh.

"How am I going to eat this?" She grimaces, staring at the slice before her. Some of the snail juices are even starting to form a small puddle around the base of the pie like a disgusting goo generator. "It's just too…!"

"Just throw it away then." James suggests promptly, already starting to neatly open the wrapper from around his candy.

"But I can't just _waste_ it." Elaine insists, staring sadly at the pie. "But I don't want to just leave it there either. If Toriel comes back and sees the pie on the table, she'll think that we don't appreciate what she's done for us."

I roll my eyes. "You're thinking a bit too far ahead on that one. I'm sure Toriel will understand."

"But…" Elaine's eyes slowly trace back to the slice. I could almost feel the dread hanging in the room. James finally pops the candy in his mouth, looking indifferent. I stare down at my own candy before offering it to Elaine.

"You can have the candy." I respond to her confused look. "I'll eat the pie."

Elaine blinks in shock. "You'll actually eat it?"

I shrug before dropping the candy into Elaine's palm. "I'm curious to see what it tastes like. I'll just think of it like a new experience."

James seems to agree, giving us a nod of approval with his head. Elaine only sends me a worried look. "Are you sure? You don't have to… I mean, I can find another way so there's no need to force yourself."

I'm already dragging the plate in my direction. The smell and color are a little overwhelming in a sense, but I could only hope that the taste would be okay. "Itadakimasu!" I grin. Twirling the spoon in one hand, I dig it into the crust and bring it to my mouth.

* * *

"I… did it…"

"That was dramatic." James comments.

"You didn't have to do that." Elaine sighs, her eyebrows knitted with worry.

"I had to." I insist, raising a fist of triumph. "And I did it! It was all for the sake and glory of my perseverance and determination!"

"You mean your pride."

"James!" I pout. "Hush!"

"But how did it taste?" Elaine asks curiously. "Your expression was unreadable. I couldn't tell if you were grimacing or suppressing a grin."

"Maybe both?..." James guesses.

"Well." I ponder it for a moment before shrugging. "The taste was indescribable."

"Indescribable?..." James himself makes an indescribable face. "Wow, so specific. I understand completely."

"No sarcasm, please."

"Yeah." I agree with Elaine. "If you really want to know what it tastes like, why don't you taste it yourself?"

James shakes his head as he smiles, putting up his hands in defeat. "No thanks."

"So I thought." I huff. "Honestly, it wasn't all that bad. I expected a lot worse… but it was rather manageable."

"But it wasn't slimy?" James teases, wiggling his fingers. "Did your teeth squeeze out their bodily juices? Did the snail bodies wriggle in your throat as you swallowed them?"

"Ewww!" Elaine squeals, covering her ears. "Oh my gosh, stop it James!"

"Sorry." He shrugs, but it's obvious he's not. "Just wanted to make sure."

"Oh yeah." I grin. "They were _super_ slimy. I could almost taste the levels of bacteria. And their bodies wiggled all around in my mouth, and when I bit down their juices would squeeze right onto my tongue and as I swallowed their insides I could still feel them wriggling in my stomach!~"

"F-Frisk!" Elaine wails. "Not you too!" James and I let out good-natured laughs, but it only makes Elaine more protestant. "You guys are so mean!"

"Not as mean as that pie." James points out.

"Yep, not as mean as those snails that wriggle and bite my esophagus as they're being digested in my goo filled stomach."

Elaine squeals some more, and we all laugh it off.

* * *

"Just how much longer are we going to stay here?" I grumble, setting my bottom onto the carpet of our room. "We've already been here for such a long time, but Toriel doesn't look like she's letting up anyhow."

"Aw, c'mon." James shrugs from his position up on the bed. "Just take it easy. Toriel will let us go eventually."

I get ready to protest, that is, until I remember the first timeline. James _had_ gotten out somehow, claiming that Toriel had let him go on her own accord. It wasn't like James to lie about something like that, so it was doubtful that Toriel would really keep us here forever. But what could have convinced Toriel to let James go? What could I do to speed up the progress? I bite my nails in frustration. I could've known, if only I had just asked James _how_ exactly he had gotten out the first time!

"It's okay." Elaine says. "I'm sure it won't be much longer."

"Yeah." James grins, nodding his head. "It won't be long, just wait and see."

They don't manage to convince me. I nod to satisfy them, but I know I will have to start taking matters into my own hands.

* * *

"Toriel?" I start, handing her the pot. She smiles with thanks and takes the pot before starting to scoop dirt into the container.

"Yes, my child?"

I gulp before putting on a wide grin. "What is outside the Ruins?"

Toriel freezes for a second before slowly setting the pot down. "...I was wondering when you would ask that." She admits quietly.

"Well?" I start. "What _is_ out there? Are there more piles of leaves to play in? Are there more bugs to catch? Or… I know!" I grin wider. "The basement. There's something fun down there, right?"

Toriel's expression turns guilty. "Why, there is nothing there, my child. Nothing at all."

"Nothing?" I repeat innocently. "Then I suppose there's no harm as to go checking it out, right?" At her expression, I continue to mow on, "I bet there's _tons_ of hiding places and cobwebs. And creepy spiders! It would _totally_ scare the skin off of Elaine!"

Toriel is quiet. She gives her pot a long look before turning back to me. "Child." She starts, hesitant. "Do you… wish to return home?"

Oh. I… hadn't expected that. "No." The answer is quick and out of my mouth before I know it.

Toriel sighs a breath of relief. "Then there is no need to go venturing out of the Ruins." She comforts me. "There are many dangers out there that can hurt you. It will be much safer to stay here in the Ruins, with me where I can protect you." Before I can even protest, she stands and takes the pot away, signaling the end of the conversation.


	4. The First Casualty

**Thank you all for your feedback!**

* * *

"This is ridiculous." I growl, impatience filling me. "Toriel's _never_ going to let us go at this rate! We're going to be stuck here forever, and it's all 'cause of _you_." I point an accusing glare at James.

"Have…" He makes a teasing pause. " _...patience_."

"Yeah, well that's easy for _you_ to say, with you having the _patient_ soul and all." He gives me a strange look and I shrug. "What? I don't need to see your soul color to know that it's your trait. Your weird decision to stay here instead of moving on should just be obvious enough."

"She will let us go!" James insists, "I'm sure of it."

"And just _how_ are you so sure?" I prod on. "Without doing anything to trigger her to let us go, you really think she'll just let us go once she's been with us long enough? That she'll eventually tire of us? What?"

James' expression suddenly turns serious. "I _am_ sure. She will let us go eventually. Something inside me tells me that."

"Something _inside_?" I roll my eyes. "Oh, that's _real_ specific. Totally something we can all base our decisions on, because it's totally based on fact. Or you know what? Maybe we can follow something that's more reliable! Like, the _game itself_?"

"You don't get it." James shakes his head. "It's not just what's inside. It's… what was that word Elaine used when she saw you?"

I stare at him warily. "...Foresight?"

Before he can respond, the door to the room creaks open and Elaine stands at the doorway. Her shadow casts over us, since the hall is brighter than the room. James and I grow silent at her still posture.

"...Were you two fighting?" She asks after a moment.

"No." At her skeptical gaze, I change my answer. "Okay, maybe a little bit."

She starts to enter the room. "Was it about James wanting to stay and wait for Toriel to let us go?"

"Who would'a guessed?" I shrug sarcastically.

"But it's your own fault for staying with us." James points out. "If you want to leave so badly, then why don't you?"

"I'm not going without Elaine." I growl.

"Why?" James asks. "She's obviously going to stay here for a while longer, and leaving without her isn't so bad. There'll be other people ahead, and Elaine is perfectly safe here."

"Oh, _I see._ " Comes my remark, "You just want me to leave her like how Joyce left you, _huh_?"

Shock suddenly plasters onto James' face. "Wh-what?"

"S-stop it!" Elaine protests. I had almost forgotten that she was there, right next to us. "This argument isn't getting us anywhere."

"Yeah, well." James pokes his glasses. "Only Erisa here-"

" _Frisk._ " I snap.

A sigh. "Only _Frisk_ here wants to leave. Neither of us want to, so she should just go by herself. Right, Elaine?" At her face of hesitation, James pauses. "Right?"

"Um." She starts, but then she stops, obviously unsure.

"...right?" James and I both stare at Elaine, pleading with her to take one of our sides. Elaine wouldn't betray me now, would she? I was doing this for her, after all. She wouldn't just leave me on my own, right? She looks between the both of us hesitantly, gulping worriedly.

"...I'm sorry." She whispers finally. "But… I think I'm starting to agree with Frisk." At James' face of confusion, she adds, "This idea doesn't seem so good anymore, and Frisk is right. Toriel isn't changing her outlooks at all. I think, maybe… maybe it's time for all of us to go."

I give her a grateful look. "Thanks for that."

James expression changes, and he suddenly looks very defeated. "I… I can't." He insists. "I have to stay. I have to find out what happens!"

"Then we'll leave." I say. "Elaine and I will go. You can stay here as long as you want, given that Toriel will let you go eventually."

"Fine." He says.

"Fine." I say. "We'll leave now."

"N-now?" Elaine squeaks.

I cock my head at her. "What's with the surprise?"

Elaine shakes her head. "We shouldn't leave _yet_."

I furrow my brows. "But you just said-"

"I said that maybe it's time for _all_ of us to go." She restates promptly. "And that includes James."

I blink. "You've _got_ to be kidding me."

"But if we leave now… then James will _never_ leave! Because Toriel will never let him leave unless he asks her to let him go. And you know James."

I growl, sick of how difficult they're making this. "Listen." I demand. "James will get out of here on his own eventually. Even he says so himself. For that to happen, we don't need to sit here and baby him throughout the whole thing. While he's busy waiting, we can just keep going. He can always catch up later."

The both of them are quiet. Maybe I had finally knocked some sense into them?

Surprisingly, James speaks first. "She's right." He sighs to Elaine. "You don't have to wait for me if you don't want to. I'm going to be staying here for a while, and I don't want that to ruin any of your experiences while you're down here. You don't have to worry about me."

Elaine hesitates. "You promise you'll make it out eventually?"

"Sure."

Elaine sighs with reluctant relief and nods at me. "Okay then. Let's go."

* * *

"Maybe if we're quiet enough, then she won't notice us going down the stairs?"

"I doubt it." I sigh, remembering the first time I had tried that. "She'll know."

"But how?" Elaine ponders. "Does she have super sharp hearing? Do goats in general have super sharp hearing?"

"If you're really so curious, we can always just test it."

"Please." She smiles.

We had bid our farewells to James and with excited hearts, had now exited the hallway. Swerving to the right as we try to quiet our steps, we approach the stairs that lead down to the basement of fate.

"You first." I say, tightening my grip around the backpack straps. Basements just weren't my thing anymore.

Elaine proceeds down the wooden steps, and I follow her. After a turn, we're met with that same long hallway. Purple, dark, and scary. Elaine walks on ahead, with me trailing behind to examine the cracked floor. No blood; that's good. I notice some piles of dust, but they don't look like monster dust. Just piles of normal dust. It still makes me feel queasy though.

Not even five seconds later, a voice is calling out to us. It echoes down, bouncing into our eardrums before proceeding down into the darkness. "Children!" It shouts, "Where are you going?"

"Toriel." Elaine squeaks.

"Do you want to keep going, or head back to satisfy her for only a few moments only to end up coming back down here again?"

She frowns. "You make it sound like it's a bad choice, but it's not." She turns around and starts marching back. "Let's go to Toriel. She may have something important to tell us."

"Yeah." I roll my eyes. "Because snail facts are _so_ important."

* * *

"Every human that falls down here will eventually meet the same fate." Toriel sighs. "I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They _will_ die. You naive children…"

I don't know why, but for some reason, that sets a spark off in me. "I am _not_ naive!" I growl. Toriel looks back worriedly, but Elaine is giving me a strange expression.

"It's okay, Frisk." She reassures me. "It's only dialogue she's reciting. We don't have to be affected by it."

But I _am_ affected by it, and it confuses me. I know it is only dialogue, but it strikes me like it is being personally aimed in my direction. Why in the world had I felt the urge to retaliate like that?

"If you leave the Ruins…" Toriel continues sadly, "They… _Asgore_ … _will_ kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? …please go back to your room."

She moves on down the hall, and we follow. Nothing is different. Except now, my insides are unsettled, and I am worried for the future that is to come.

* * *

"You want to leave so badly?" Toriel prompts at us, standing in front of the doorway to the exit of the Ruins. "Hmph. Then you are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself… Prove to me that you are strong enough to survive."

The room darkens (somehow even more than it is already) and our souls fly out. Elaine and I are lifted to the sky. However… Elaine's soul is a pretty, light green.

"Your soul!" Elaine suddenly exclaims, her eyes wide as she points at the heart floating in front of me. "It's _red_!"

I'm just as excited, having never seen her particular soul in action before. "But your's is green!" I reply, flying over to her side. "That's so cool! But how does it work?"

"Why is it green?" She ponders before waving her arms around, like she's trying to test it out herself. "U-um. I actually don't know how this works."

"You…" I narrow my eyes, suspicious at her lack of understanding. "You've never even engaged in a battle with someone yet?"

She gulps sheepishly. "Um, maybe?..."

"Wh-what? How?!"

But Toriel is impatient, and does not wish to listen to our foolish conversation. She is serious about keeping us here, and safe. She raises her paws and starts sending fireballs down on us. There's not enough time to explain to Elaine all the mechanics. But do I still help her, or do I survive the attack and hope that she's not dumb enough to go flying into all the attacks?

I choose the latter. For the time being, I completely ignore Elaine and focus on holding on my own. The balls of fire swirl down on me, and I move between them with ease. Feeling a little better, I peek over to see how Elaine is doing.

She's being pummeled. The fireballs rain above her and move around a lot, mostly missing her, but it's only because she's absolutely still. She hasn't budged a centimeter from where she had originally started. She isn't moving, dodging, none of the like. What is she doing?!

When the attack is over, I immediately head over to her side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She sniffs. She _does_ look fine, surprisingly. There seems to be a possible burn on her arm, and I can smell a few singed hairs, but that's about it.

"Why didn't you move around?" I ask worriedly.

"I can't!"

"Just tell your soul to move around…"

"It doesn't really work." She huffs promptly. "I tried already."

I blink for a few moments before realization settles in. " _OH…_ " I gasp knowingly. "Your soul is _green_ for goodness sake! Why didn't I think of it before?" I fly around her in a mini circle to examine the situation. "You don't have anything to block yourself with?"

"Block?" She looks confused.

"I'll take that as a no." I sling off my backpack in midair and ruffle around the contents before pulling out my trusty stick. Maybe it's time to kiss it goodbye? I blink at my own thoughts before making a face at myself. I quickly hand it to Elaine. "Okay, use this to block the attacks."

"This little thing?" Elaine ponders, reaching for the stick. "I… really doubt this can stop anything, much less a ball of fire."

"Oh." I hadn't thought of that. "Well then maybe-" I stop when Elaine's hand comes into contact with the stick. It's suddenly surrounded by an extremely faint glow of green.

"Huh?" Elaine raises the stick to her face, a fascinated look in her eye. "What's happening?"

"I don't know." I admit.

" _Ahem._ " Whoop, that's Toriel. Goat lady sighs in irritation before raising her paws again. The same attack rains down on us. Elaine looks worried.

"Just try using the stick anyway!" I tell her as I dive between trails of red and orange. "No harm in trying, right?"

She nods feebly, and I am momentarily cut off from her when a wall of fire comes cascading between us. Once it's gone, I see Elaine experimentally poking fireballs out of the corner of my eye. Whenever the stick comes into contact with a flaming ball, it just disappears in a poof of smoke.

"Whoooa!" I grin, twisting between the attacks. One passes between my legs, and another singed my arm hairs, but it was still totally worth diverting half of my attention to Elaine. Seeing different souls in action was _cool._

The attack ends and I practically bound over to her. "That was amazing!" I clap excitedly.

Elaine stares at her stick-holding hand like it's magical. "Whoa."

"But why are _you_ surprised?" I muse, floating around her. "Have you never been in a battle before now?"

"...no."

"How?"

"Toriel fought all the battles for me." She admits sheepishly.

"...oh." I realize that I myself had used the tactic as well for this run, and that I wasn't supposed to know how my soul worked either. Oh well. It wasn't like anyone actually spied on my whole trip here to the end of the Ruins, right?

"Now that we've settled this, we can start sparing her." Elaine says happily.

The two of us try to convince Toriel to stop fighting us. She reluctantly sends more attacks at us, and we dodge. Or at least, I do. Elaine is still an inexperienced battler. She does not understand the full mechanics of the green soul, as I do. They come from behind her as well, sneaking up on her like a snake.

"From behind!" I call out, narrowly avoiding an attack.

Elaine gasps and swerves around, but doesn't react quick enough. It slams into her torso before dissipating. She grits her teeth and clenches her stomach, but the attack isn't even half over yet.

"No!" I exclaim. "You need to keep going!"

My words seem to help her somewhat, since she immediately straightens herself afterwards. Unfortunately, she completely fails to see the fireball cascading downwards, and in result, gains herself another burn onto her shoulder.

The round ends. I zip over to Elaine, worry plastered onto my face. "Elaine!" I call out.

But she's smiling, or at least, trying to. "I'm okay!" She reassures me. "Just a little banged up. Don't worry about me. I'll learn eventually."

I stare at her a little longer, but if she thinks she'll be fine, then she will be, right? It's not like she can even die from Toriel anyway. We speak to Goat Lady again, and even more hesitantly, she sends fire from the ceiling. I always keep one eye on Elaine. She managing better now. She gets another hit on her thigh, but the attack is over before any more casualties can be dealt.

"I'm doing it!" She grins with pride.

We yell at Toriel to please stop, but it comes again. Thinking that Elaine is fine on her own now, I focus on my own area of battle. That is, until she squeals.

Startled, I snap my head around. To my relief, it's just her excitement getting the best of her. Seeing fireballs dissipate in thin air was apparently a fun activity. Our eyes meet for a moment, and she smiles. I grin back, that is, until her expression morphs into horror.

Everything suddenly went horribly wrong. Without even a second to react, she tosses the stick in my direction. Surprised, I am unable to process what she had done until the stick sails past my face, and a fireball that would have slammed me right on my beautiful facial features had she not thrown the stick dissipates into the air.

I am still floating in confusion by the time the stick hits the ground, but am snapped into reality when Elaine starts screaming.

This was different from the excited squeals of before. Shocked, I turn to see Elaine being barreled with fire. Almost as if all the attacks in the world were being aimed directly at her. Horrified, I quickly fly down to grab the stick. I soar back upwards, but end up having to waste a few seconds when I duck away from a stray fireball.

It's still happening. Elaine looks weak with fright. She's alone; unprotected. Has her skin turned a different color? Doesn't matter, I just need to get this stick to her before-

A wall of fire suddenly separates us again, and I come to a screeching stop. I have to wait for the wall to go away before I can reach Elaine. Right when it's passed by, I rush forwards with the stick in hand, but it is already too late.

Toriel's eyes are wide, and she has brought her paws up to her face.

My mind is blank as I stare at the scene before me. _There's. No. Way._

But it has happened, and I have failed. Elaine is dead.


	5. You Idiot

**You guys certainly have bundles of enthusiasm. :)**

 **luv ya'll! ~ *insert heart emoji***

* * *

That was all it took. It was that easy.

Toriel trembles a moment more before falling to her knees and breaking into sobs. "I-I am sorry, my child, my children… I hadn't meant… I really did not mean to…"

But it doesn't matter what she _had_ meant or what she says, because what's done is done. Just like that, the battle is over, and we plop to the ground. I land on my feet, but Elaine does not. She can't.

I'm angry. So very angry. My hand is twitching and I want to grab a something and just… _stab_ someone. " _Toriel!_ " I growl, swerving to face her. "You… _killed her?!_ "

She gives me a devastated look. Her eyes seem broken. "I did not think… I-I am so sorry, child… Nothing I can say can change what I've done… I'm…" She buries her face into her paws, sobbing. "I am so sorry…"

"Sorry won't bring her back." I growl, frustrated. "You promised we would be safe here! You were our caretaker! You had _one_ job. What have you done?!" A hiss starts to grow in the back of my throat, my hands finding their way up to my hair to tangle themselves into the strands. "This is all _your_ fault!"

"I…" Toriel hangs her head in shame. "...You're right. If only I had just let you go, like I did for the others. I…" She brings the palms of her hands up, a terrified look on her face. Her eyes are red with terror. "If only I had protected to you all better. If only I could've saved all of you. If only I can…"

My anger starts to fade away into worry and fear when I see Toriel's state. A bit of guilt presses into me. "Toriel?" She doesn't look up, and I sigh tiredly. This was getting us nowhere. "Toriel, stop stressing out, okay? This isn't completely your fault, okay? It's… not…" My eyes widen when I realize that it's true. It wasn't just Toriel's fault.

I was to blame as well. There were so many things I could've done to prevent the catastrophe. A list is suddenly building inside of my mind. Keeping a better watch on Elaine. Paying more attention to my surroundings so she wouldn't have to throw the stick in the first place. Less blanking out. Getting the stick faster. Not pausing next to the wall of fire. I could've jumped through, since I definitely had enough health for it. I could've saved Elaine. But I didn't. I hadn't. Because I was… what? A coward? A naive idiot?

"It is not too late…" Toriel says, bringing me back to the present. I hadn't even realized, but my fists had clenched. I slowly unclench them. "There is still a way to prevent this from happening again. Child…" She lifts her head, sorrowful. "You may leave the Ruins now if you wish."

I don't believe it. "Oh so _now_ you let us go, after you've killed someone?!"

"It was not my intention, I promise." She croaks. "Please believe me when I say this. I wanted to keep you children safe. But I…" A tear leaks out her eye, wetting her fur. "I have failed. I… if I must repeat it again, I will. I'm so, so very sorry." When I don't respond, she continues insistently. "You _must_ leave the Ruins. And if I may request… please leave with the other as well."

I narrow my eyes. "...James?"

"I do not believe it is safe for any of you to stay here any longer." A terrified look seizes her. "I do not want to harm you children again. It will be best for you to leave." She stops before nodding. "Yes, yes. It _would_ be best for you to leave. Come, come along now." She gets up, slowly trudging past me. Close up, I can now see tear-streaks in her fur from her crying.

"No, wait." I stop her, grabbing her sleeve. "What about Elaine? You can't just leave her here!"

Toriel slowly turns her head in my direction. There is an eerie look in her eye, and I do not like it. When she speaks, I see the corner of her mouth twitching. "I will give her a proper burial." She says. "But after you children have left. Now I will go fetch James, and send the both of you off."

"Why?" I ask, but she has already shook me off and is heading for the stairs.

I stand in the hall, watching her go. I don't want to look behind me, where Elaine was left laying on the floor, untouched and ignored. I was afraid I would see those white, lifeless eyes again. Those lifeless eyes of Joyce, slowly dying away in this exact hall...

And now to think of it, would this be the ticket for James' departure as well? A thought suddenly strikes me, and I realize that this situation is very familiar. I rack my mind, trying to figure out why…

 _Of course!_ In the first run, James had made it out and Elaine hadn't. It was only a guess, but… could this situation possibly have been the precise setting that had occurred then? Frustration towards James and Toriel clenches me, and I have to kneel down to keep myself together.

There was no way it could've happened twice, right? Especially when I was here this time, instead of James. Getting killed by Toriel only happened if you were _trying_ to kill yourself. It was an Easter Egg, it wasn't easy to die even if you wanted to. Then why had it happened to her… and _twice_? Was it because she was inept to battles? Was it her soul, the fact that she couldn't dodge or move around?

 _Maybe it was just fate?_ Was it was fate for Elaine to die at the hands of Toriel, no matter what time or situation? My hands are trembling. No way. There's no way that's it.

I hear footsteps. Is she back already? It's seems like more than just one pair of feet. It can only be one person; James is with her. "We're returning, my child!" Toriel calls out. I hear hushed whispers, it sounds like James is speaking to her?

It doesn't matter. This timeline has already messed up. There's no way we can continue on like this. I scramble to move my hands forward, and I shut my eyes in concentration, trying to erase the image of Elaine from my mind, trying to remember how to perform _the action_.

 _Please._ I beg internally. _Please let me do this._

A button finally appears. As James and Toriel turn the corner, my fingers touch the yellow words of the _Load_ button, and the world goes black.

* * *

A white paw finds itself into my hand. I am being dragged along. The world is fuzzy. I blink rapidly, trying to reorient myself.

"This is it." Says a hauntingly sweet voice. "A room for you and the others! I hope you like it."

I can see again. And I am not happy. Startled at the sight of Toriel, I jerk my hand out of her's. A look of hurt flashes across her face, but she quickly hides it, deciding on folding the both of her paws across her lap.

I swerve my head around, checking my surroundings. I am back at Toriel's house, that was obvious enough. But the question was, _when_ was I at Toriel's house?

Right. She just introduced me to the new room. Which meant I was… back at the start?

 _What? No way!_ In the last run, had I really not saved a single time after reaching Toriel's home? I rack my brain, trying to remember a time, _any_ time, that I might've felt determination or received the mental reminder to save.

...None. I had never saved a single time after reaching Toriel's home. Realization slams into me. I'll have to do it all again. I'll have to repeat everything again. I'll have to listen to everything they say, _again._

I was _such an… idiot!_

Toriel notices my silent seething, and stares worriedly at me. "Child? Are you alright? Is it…" She looks sad. "Is something upsetting you?"

 _Something?_ I look at Toriel straight in the eyes, as if that would be enough to convey the message of anger I was sending to her through my thoughts. _Oh yeah, definitely._ The image of Elaine staying motionless flashes through my mind. Toriel's shocked expression. Death hanging in the air.

Toriel gives me a nervous look. "Is something burning…?" She asks rhetorically before quickly turning to me. "Um, make yourself at home!" With the perfect excuse, she scurries away to the kitchen and leaves me on my own.

I sigh. Maybe I should look at this on the bright side? There was no promises that I would've been able to load a save in the first place, as I had never had any experiences with doing so or had the luck to want to. Just being able to go back to _any_ point in time… I should count myself lucky.

Great. It's time to start mission "Save Elaine… _and_ James."

This time though, I don't go to open the door knob. I wait outside, curious to see if the door will just go and open on its own again. Sure enough, a few seconds later, it's creaking open. She's there, peeking through the crack. I sigh in relief to see her again, alive and not still upon the Ruin floor.

When she sees it's me, she practically swings the door open. "Erisa!" Elaine grins.

"Frisk." I choose to correct her, inviting myself into the room. I see James on the bed, once again.

"...Frisk?" She asks, confused.

"Yeah. I'd prefer that while we're down here." I sigh, annoyed that I have to repeat my explanation again and again. Maybe if I had just remembered to _save_!...

"U-uh sure! Frisk!" She laughs sheepishly before looking relieved. "I'm just glad you made it. You were taking such a long time, I'd thought you were…"

"Dead?" James and I inquire at the same time. The synchronization makes us look at each other with surprise. When Elaine sees this, she laughs a little.

"Well… kinda, yeah."

"Well I'm not dead." I say promptly. _And I never permanently will be, for that matter._ I decide to just get to the point. "Moving on. When are you all moving out?" When they look at me with confusion, I sigh and realize that I have to be more precise. I can't let simple repetitions of timelines keep me from remembering to act normal. "What I _mean_ is, when are we leaving the Ruins? If I've really been gone for that long, then you must've been waiting here for a long time too, right?"

"O-oh…" Elaine gestures frantically with her hands. "It wasn't that long…!"

"I'm staying." Comes the famous statement from you-know-who.

"No, you are _not_ staying." I growl to James. "Toriel will never let you go if you choose to stay here on your own accord. You'll be stuck here forever." _And if you manage to leave, Elaine will die._ I have to do this for her. "There's no use waiting." I conclude.

James tilts his head. "Why in such a hurry to leave?"

"We don't have time for this."

"Well hey, that's okay." He says, shrugging and putting on a wiry smile. "I'm patient."

" _Patience_ only works when there's something worth waiting for." I point out. "If it'll never happen, then what's the point in waiting?"

"Toriel will let us go." James insists, a determined look on his face. "I know it! For sure!"

"Uh-huh." Raise of an eyebrow. "And _how_ do you know?"

He opens his mouth, but then closes it, unsure of how to answer. Something is stopping him from wanting to speak, but what? Elaine looks between us, worried.

"We could wait a little while." She suggests finally. "Then if it looks like Toriel isn't budging, we'll leave."

I want to reject the idea immediately, not liking the idea of having to wait all over again. But I stop myself when I realize that adding a deadline might actually work. But only if James agreed to it as well. I nod slightly, and turn to him. "Well?"

"There's no saying how long it'll take, though!" He continues to insist. "It could be a short while, or a very long time. We can't just label a certain amount of days and conclude there's nothing we can do about it when it reaches the deadline we set up ourselves."

"Then what are you going to do?" I ask. "Wait for an eternity?" He hesitates, and I want to laugh once I realize that he actually wants to answer with a yes. "We don't have an eternity." I say more quietly this time. "The Ruins is not our home. You really can't stay here forever. Not to mention… don't you want to rejoin with Joyce again?"

His face is conflicted, and I realized that he was actually hesitating. I was honestly surprised that I was able to make James budge from his position at all, since he was so dead-set on the last run to follow through with his idea. What's changed since then?

"I…" He huffs before letting out a breath. "I just want to know what happens."

"And nothing will." I say with a conviction that I'm sure will be able to convince him.

"Then we'll wait." He responds.

"With a time limit."

He grits his teeth, but he repeats it back in sullen agreement. "With a time limit." He promises.

* * *

"Why do you want James to leave so badly?"

I look at Elaine, cocking an eyebrow. James wasn't currently with us, talking with Toriel about something I didn't give a crap about, probably. With him out of the way, I could choose to say what I liked without worrying about being judged. But even with him away, something still felt unsettling.

"Because I don't want to leave him behind?" I try to say it like it's obvious, even though it isn't. At least it's half the truth, right? That's gotta count for something.

Elaine hesitates, like she's having a hard time asking the questions. However, she still ends up choosing to point things out anyway. "But he doesn't need to come with us if we choose to leave on our own." She says. "If he's really so insistent on staying, why not just let him?"

 _Because the only reason he'll ever manage to leave is if you die?_ I want to say, but I shut my mouth. "Because," I start, "If there really _is_ no way for him to leave by Toriel's own will, then he really _will_ just be stuck here. Forever."

"James isn't an idiot." Elaine huffs. "I'm sure he'll know when it's time to go, on his own accord."

"James thinks he has an eternity." I counter. "But he's wrong. With his way of thinking, he will never leave and will never have the courage to leave unless we convince him to."

"Oh." We stand in silence for few moments before Elaine breaks it. "Well, at least we only have to wait one more week, right?"

* * *

 **Just an unrelated note: When I thought about Toriel's reaction to killing Elaine, I couldn't help myself from comparing her to the Horrortale Toriel's personality. It seemed fitting. :\**


	6. An Escape

Such a waste of time. But it was worth it. It _had_ to be worth it.

It's the day. This time, I head outside to save before talking to James. Seeing Toriel's cozy little home in the middle of the purple ruins fills me with determination.

Elaine and I talk it out with James, and finally, we manage to convince him that there's no use in waiting. We pack what we have, which isn't much, and we head out down the hall.

"Maybe if we're quiet enough, then she won't notice us going down the stairs?"

I sigh. James trots behind us, and he doesn't look very happy. "She'll know." I say. After all, I've already tried it, and _twice_ now.

"But how?" Elaine ponders, and I roll my eyes. "Does she have super sharp hearing? Do goats in general have super sharp hearing?"

"Dunno." I shrug, not really sure how Toriel was able to catch us every time anyway. "But Toriel has such floppy ears… maybe she isn't even actually a goat?"

"Whaaat?"

"Yeah, maybe she's actually a sheep. Sheep have floppy ears." I think?

"But she has _horns_!" Elaine points out excitedly. "Sheep don't have horns! So she must be a goat!"

"Or a ram." I tease. "Rams have horns too."

"But they're a bit too big for Toriel." James finally joins the conversation. "Toriel really does most resemble a goat. Small horns, long ears, the closest match."

"But wait…" I'm suddenly thinking _very_ hard. "If Toriel's ears are so floppy, and constantly pressed against her head where sounds are most likely to be muffled… then how _does_ she hear us?"

"Don't know." James shrugs. "How do rabbits with floppy ears hear?"

"We can test it!" Elaine suddenly suggests, eyes sparkling. "Frisk and I can go down the stairs, and James can stand in secret next to the doorway of the living room to see how Toriel reacts!"

"Huh…" James ponders it for a moment before grinning a little. "Yeah, that _is_ a good idea!"

I frown. This wasn't what I was hoping the conversation would lead to. The last thing I needed was another excuse for James to not leave the Ruins with us. "Wait." I say. "James and I should go down the stairs, and Elaine should wait to watch Toriel."

They both face me with perplexed expressions. "Why?"

"Because…" If James somehow manages to distract Toriel and we actually leave the Ruins without him, then we're screwed? "James just isn't the right person for the job."

James raises an eyebrow, looking slightly offended. "But I want to know what happens."

"Then Elaine can tell you once she's seen it." I turn to her for confirmation.

"Well…" She stalls, thinking a way out. "I would really love to see what happens, but if James wants to see it more, I think we should let him…"

" _Or!"_ James suddenly proclaims. "Elaine and I could both stay to watch Toriel, and you can go down the stairs yourself."

...wait, what? And leave him alone with Elaine, where he could convince her to go to his side and let him stay here even longer then how long we've already waited? Oh, heck no. But Elaine is nodding, a determined look on her face.

"That's the best idea so far." She agrees, turning to me. "Is that okay with you?"

Great, I've made it worse. There's no going against it, though. It looks like this is what we've come to. These two are so rebellious, it's so hard to put them in line for me to save them, but there's no other choice. I put on a smile, but it is _very_ forced. "Sure, I'm fine."

Elaine looks relieved, thinking that we've all come to a reasonable agreement, but it's not like that at all. I crouch and wait for them to scurry next to the living room doorway. They peek inside the room and Elaine gives me a thumbs up. With a sigh, I start down the stairs.

Maybe I should try making a racket. I should be loud enough _on purpose_ , so that Toriel will hear me for sure. Although it wouldn't have been a difficult task anyway. The boards seemed more creaky than ever, and the echoes bounced in the basement so loudly that I was almost sure even the monsters in Snowdin could hear it.

I am so busy paying attention to the noises around me that I don't even realize I've reached the end of the hall until it's almost right in my face. I look to the left, and _voila_ , the Ruins door. Confused, I turn myself completely around, and search for any sign of a furry white monster coming to stop me. Nothing. It's eerily quiet.

What's happened? Bewildered, I run back to the stairs. Surely, that's enough noise to attract even the smallest mouse? But still no sounds of approaching footsteps. Annoyed, I climb back up the stairs. Surveying the area, I realize that both James _and_ Elaine had abandoned their posts. So much for trying out _that_ idea.

I head to the living room, and the room is a little dark, but I can still see the two sitting on the carpet in front of Toriel's old rocking chair. Toriel herself is reading them a story. It is like a picture right out of a storybook. The crackling of a burning fire in the fireplace, the comforts of a warm home, and two children sitting on the carpet listening to fairy tales told by a motherly figure. I stand entranced for a while, just soaking the image in.

...I still needed Alphys' camera.

Toriel finally notices me, and silently beckons me over, a smile on her face. I hesitantly walk over, temporarily forgetting my main goal. I sit myself on the carpet behind James and Elaine. Toriel's eyes return to the book, and after flipping to a new page, she speaks.

"Once upon a time," She starts eerily, "There was a man who died."

Greatest beginning I've ever heard.

"The man's work was the writing and telling of stories." Toriel continues, still with the same haunting tone. "But he could not defy death. The last story the man was working on was about a brave and handsome prince who vanquishes a crafty raven. But now it seems their battle will go on for eternity."

I slowly find myself getting entranced.

Toriel continues, attempting to imitate the characters' voices. "'I'm sick and tired of this!' Cried the Raven. 'I'm sick and tired of this!' Cried the prince as well. The Raven escaped from the pages of the story and the prince pursued the foul creature."

At that precise moment, Toriel waves her paw and a bright flame in the image of a raven flies out from her book. It lights up the room, vanquishing the shadows. We stare in a transfixed awe as the fire raven fades away in the air. The room is dark again.

"In the end, the prince took out his own heart and sealed the raven away using a forbidden power. But just then, a murmur came from somewhere: 'This is great!' Said the man who was supposed to have died…"

I felt so weary just then. The room was so cozy. The fireplace was so warm. The setting was so peaceful. My eyelids drooped and Toriel's words became a fuzzy haze. So I let my eyes close.

* * *

I am startled awake by a hand shaking my shoulder.

"Wh-what?" I squint at the figure in front of me, trying to figure out who it is. The room is dark, so I can't identify them immediately.

"C'mon Frisk, we're going."

"We're… going?" I lift myself from the bed, rubbing my eyes. We must've been back in the room. How did I get back here?

"Yes." She says, smiling at my expression. "We're leaving now. James and I will wait for you outside. Come out when you've got everything."

"Elaine?" I guess, getting off the bed. "We're leaving? Where?"

"The Ruins." She says, nodding at me and placing a hand on my shoulder. "We're leaving the Ruins."

"Now?"

"James is coming." She responds, guessing my worries. "And we're doing it while Toriel is asleep. Now's the time."

I blink at her, surprised. So we were finally going to go? How did she manage to convince James? What changed? What happened before I woke up? Something tugs inside me, something that's telling me I want to stay. But I know it's not going to happen. If we can grab the chance to leave, then we're just going to have to leave. It was as simple as that.

"...okay." I finally answer.

"Good." Elaine says, "We'll be waiting outside." She leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

I look around quickly. My backpack sits beside the bed. I grab that. I examine the rest of the room. There is nothing else to take. But is there something I should leave?

I rip the flower drawing from off the wall and flip it over to the blank side. Snatching a quick pencil from my pack, I start scribbling some writing.

 _We're leaving, Toriel. I'm really sorry it came down to this, but there's an entire world out there for us to see. But I won't forget you and your fire ravens. I'll remember you, I promise._

There's no time to sign it or a way for me to help her identify it's us. I can only hope that she knows. I toss the paper onto the bed, and leave the room to join my friends. The door closes on the dark, and now empty, room.

The house is dark.

The stairway is dark.

The hallway is dark.

The doors are dark.

No one had followed us. Toriel really was asleep. James nods at us before pushing the doors open. It creaks and we are afraid, but there are no noises upstairs, so we escape the Ruins and close the doors behind us.

Nothing sits upon the patch of grass, but neither Elaine or James seems to notice.

The final door looms before us. It is big, it is scary, but it is fate. I smile at the other two, and they nod back. Turning back to the door, we lift our arms and push it open together into a winter wonderland.


	7. There's Snow Way

The door shuts behind us, and our only way back is now permanently gone. Finally.

"We _made_ it!" I cheer. James whistles in victory, and Elaine gives us all a hug. There is snow under our wet feet and there are black trees blocking the sky, but I could honestly care less. We had done it. We got James out, Elaine wasn't dead, and we were on our way to adventures unknown to the world.

"That was _easy_!" Elaine grins, starting forwards. She stops in a mid-step later, her right foot buried in a mound of snow. Yelping, she backs her way onto the trail where the snow is less deep.

I laugh a little. "Don't get too excited. Since we're in Snowdin now, it's bound to get colder." I survey what they're wearing. "Do we all have enough layers on?"

James is wearing a jacket, but it's thin and unzipped, exposing his white T-shirt. Elaine has a dark sweatshirt on, and I can't help noticing the white bird design on her front. It seems like enough, but she's shivering a bit. I myself am simply wearing my striped sweatshirt. You know, the blue one with the magenta stripes. There's nothing else we can put on.

"Are you not cold at all?" I face James with a skeptic gaze.

"Not really." He shrugs.

I turn to Elaine next. "Are you okay in that?"

"I'm fine." She answers quickly, then after a moment, "And maybe we should start heading forwards instead of just standing here?"

"Tsk, rush rush rush." James wags his finger, but he's the first to start moving forwards. Elaine and I hesitantly follow him. Our footsteps are loud on the slushy trail, and I don't like it. I forlornly look back only once, bidding farewell to the Ruins door… and to sweep my gaze over the camera bush, which we had promptly ignored.

"It's so exciting!" Elaine says in a hushed tone, but her energy isn't hidden. "We've finally made it to the next area… I can't wait to catch up to everyone else!"

I'm thinking differently, but I don't tell them that. "Yep. Can't wait."

"And it's so pretty…" She whispers, her eyes hesitantly trailing over the mounds of snow in front of us. This was her first time seeing Snowdin, and probably her first time seeing snow too. It was no wonder that she was fascinated.

While she's occupied, I turn to James. "What convinced you?" I ask. "What made you leave?"

"The Ruins?" He guesses. When I nod, he sighs. "When Toriel read us that story… I realized the truth. That prince… he's stuck in that book, but with determination, he eventually manages to get out. It's like… he's stuck in that book in the same way we're being stuck in the Ruins."

I blink at him. "So you mean… you left the Ruins because you wanted to be a prince?"

"What?" He looks unbelievingly at me. "No. What I'm trying to say is, if the prince hadn't tried to leave his own story, he would've been stuck forever. The author of the prince's story was trying to keep him in. He's just like Toriel, keeping us in the Ruins. It was only because the prince _wanted_ to leave that he was able to get out."

"Yeah, I know. Just teasing." I grin, looking up to the sky. Or at least, where the sky would be. Up ahead, it's just dark. I can't even see the ceiling. "I'm just glad you eventually chose to leave." I say to him. "That's what counts."

"Yeah, sure."

Elaine stops in front of us. James and I stop with her, and just as I'm starting to wonder what caused her pause, I see the sticks. Or, what was supposed to be _one_ stick, but had been split multiple times. Like predicted, there's exactly four cracks.

Elaine's faces scrunches up. "Is this…?"

"The stick." Is the only answer I need to provide for them.

James gives me a disbelieving look. "Sans was so lazy that he didn't even replace the stupid stick _once_?"

"I guess not."

"So how's he going to do it this time?" Elaine wonders, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Will he split it three times, one for each of us, or just one big crack for all of us?"

I grit my teeth, already knowing the answer, but James puts in an answer for me. "Maybe the latter." He guesses. "If he's too lazy to even replace a stick, what's to say he won't be lazy enough to make two less cracks for us?"

"I guess that makes sense…" Elaine hums a little sadly.

I start forwards this time, with no time to dawdle. I already know the answer to all their questions, and I don't see the point in pondering about it. When James and Elaine see me move on ahead, they quickly scurry behind to follow. I watch my step, careful not to get my socks wet.

We continue down the path in a curious silence until we reach the bridge. As precedented, Elaine looks behind her shoulder, hoping to catch a sight of you-know-who. But there is nothing. No rustling in the trees, no lurking shadows, no out of the ordinary figures. Just nothing.

Elaine looks worriedly at us. "Where's Sans?" She asks the obvious question hanging between us.

"I… don't know." I try to scrunch up my face and look disappointed. Elaine seems to fall for it.

James isn't looking our way or back at the trail. His face is turned forwards, past the bridge and at something in the distance. "Someone's coming." He warns us.

"What?" I look past the bridge with him, temporarily forgetting about Elaine's worries over Sans. I already knew that the only person it could possibly be was Papyrus. But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see anything. With James beckoning, Elaine eventually turns over to look too. However, she looks just as confused as I am. Our eyesight was pretty bad, that was for sure. But it was our own sad fault for not getting glasses when we needed them.

"Who's coming?" Elaine repeats in question.

"It looks like someone pretty tall." James squints his eyes in concentration. "I think it's… Papyrus?"

"It's gotta be." I say, shrugging. "Who else could it be?"

"Ricky." Elaine puts in, and I roll my eyes.

"It can't be."

"Why not?"

"Because, he's…" I hesitate. Elaine's looking at me in the eyes. "He's… um." What? _He's definitely ahead of us and already past Snowdin, and I know because of the first timeline where I had to watch everyone suffer an inevitable death?_

"It can't be Ricky." James answers for me instead. "The figure's not wearing orange. However," He smirks, "He's certainly wearing a nice battle-body."

That settled it, no arguments required. It had to be Papyrus. Phew. I scratch the back of my neck, relieved. Bless James for his glasses and terrific eyesight. Without him… who knew what conclusions Elaine could've come up with?

"...I still can't see him though." Elaine huffs, a little annoyed. I can't either, but it doesn't bother me that much.

"He's still pretty far away." James shrugs. "We can keep going onwards and meet him later on." He casts an amused expression on the obstacle in front of us. "It's not as if the bridge's stopping us or anything, right?"

So we all cross the bridge together, passing between the bars easily, as predicted. The wood is slightly slippery from the ice, and I'm slightly scared of the drop below, but we make it across safely.

"The lamp!" Elaine notices immediately, fascination on her face. It was certainly bizarre to see a purple-blue themed lamp out in the middle of a white snowy landscape, especially one that was so large it could hide an entire person behind it.

James frowns. "But it's not in the right shape."

I raise an eyebrow. "Not in the right shape?..."

"Well, now that you mention it…" Elaine scrunches her face up, heading over to inspect the lamp. "It's a little shorter than me."

"Well, it can't perfectly match all of us." I point out, striding over as well. "We're all different heights and sizes, after all." James was a bit shorter than me, but Elaine was taller than me for sure. Then not to mention Ricky, who was basically a giraffe.

"Actually," James has on a thoughtful expression while turning to me. "I think the lamp matches _your_ size the best."

"Me?"

"Yeah, it matches your height almost perfectly." He smirks. "You sure that this lamp wasn't made for you or something?"

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility." I grin back. Although I had meant for it to be in a joking tone, I realized that it may actually be true. What were the chances that the lamp in the Underground would _just happen_ to stay in the exact same shape as the one with the determination soul?

"Hey, I have an idea!" Elaine exclaims. "What if we wait for Papyrus behind the lamp, then surprise him when he shows up?"

I give her an amused expression. "We can't all hide behind that lamp, you know."

"But there's a sentry station up ahead." James nods, and our attention is brought to the wooden stand. "Two of us could hide behind that, for sure."

"I'll go." I say, remembering how the ketchup bottles in the stand were so effective in surprising Sans in the first timeline.

"What? Now that's just unethical. Why should you hide behind the station when you can just stay next to the lamp that's exactly your size?"

I blink at James. "...just because?" is the stupid answer I eventually come up with.

"Um, we don't _have_ to wait for Papyrus if you guys don't want to…" Elaine puts in. "It was just a suggestion…"

"I don't mind waiting." James shrugs.

"I…" Pausing hesitantly, I try to think it through. Waiting for Papyrus would just waste time. Why should we wait now when we've already waited so long in the Ruins? Anyways, I had been looking forward to seeing Sans too…

Not to mention, I had no goals set. I had prevented Elaine from possible death, and managed to force James to leave… but now what? What was I going for now? Who else did I need to help?

The first thing that flashes through my mind is Cowboy. He had fallen in the first timeline because of me. If I just didn't show up as early, maybe he wouldn't find me, chase me, then feel obliged to help me? I didn't know, but maybe stalling wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be.

"I could use the lamp if the both of you want to hide behind the station so bad." Elaine suggests.

"That makes even _less_ sense." James sighs, shaking his head. "You're the only one bigger than the lamp, so you should be the _last_ person to hide behind it."

"Oh. I-I guess?" Elaine makes a small laugh to cover up her embarrassment.

"Yeah, so that means Frisk should-" James stops when he sees I'm not listening. "Frisk, are you even paying attention?"

But I'm obviously not. There's someone hiding behind the sentry station. I can hear shuffling noises, and see their shadow lurking on the snow. "Who's there?" I call out.

The shuffling stops for a moment, and then a green individual suddenly leaps out from behind the sentry station, fluttering in front of us. Our souls are drawn out into a battle. All three of us stare at this new enemy, shock plastered onto our faces.

"Where is he?" Chilldrake growls at us, sunglasses glinting in the light, and head darting left and right, as if he is searching for someone. " _Where's Snowy_?"

* * *

 **^That one moment when you forgot that this was a potential problem...**

 **And that's it! AhwellwhatImeanbythatis that was all the chapters I had prepared beforehand. Now the rest are gonna come out _very_ slowly, haha. :|**


	8. A Choice

**I apologize for the lack of an updating schedule. Blame school. :P**

* * *

"Snowy?" Elaine asks, looking confused.

"Snowy?" James repeats in disbelief.

" _Snowdrake_?" I gasp with realization. It suddenly strikes me, just like how lightning strikes buildings and trees. Or at least, before setting them on fire and making them crumble into ashes, that is.

Chilldrake gives us a strange look at our chorus as he moves his beak, and I suddenly realize that he is munching on a piece of paper. "Yeah dude," He tells us, sunglasses glinting. "I've been looking for him for _all_ week, but I can't find him anywhere."

I freeze, remembering something. I had met Chilldrake in the first run too, but I hadn't thought anything about it, being so excited about finally existing in Undertale, but now…

"...Impossible." James replies quietly.

Thoughts are swirling in my mind, not believing it. Chilldrake is here, right now. And there could only be one explanation for that. He was looking for his friend, Snowdrake. And there was only one occurrence where he would come looking…

And it was if Snowdrake was already dead.

I gasp a little when I realize what it means. Snowdrake has at least been dead for a week, about the amount of time we spent in the Ruins. This is not just a case of saving my friends anymore. With him gone, the only way of achieving the True Pacifist route will have gone away.

"Oh my gosh."

...I couldn't believe it. Such an important detail, long forgotten in my mind. Just simply set aside, like it was an unimportant speck of dust. I had simply dismissed the fact that Snowdrake was dead the first time and walked away, completely disregarding Chilldrake's appearance, and now I was paying for it.

Because I knew the truth. I knew I couldn't just simply reload and come running back to stop Snowdrake's murder. This happened about an _entire_ week ago, and I had only saved just recently. I had saved over Snowdrake's death. Meaning, to fix all this…

I would have to Reset again. All my hard work this run has been in vain. All my efforts have been fruitless.

Disbelief is crowding in my mind, and for a moment, I don't know what to do. I look to Elaine and James to see their reactions, but they look just as unsure as I do. We're stuck, trapped inside a cage with no choices or chances. Only one person can fix this. Only one person can go back in time.

But first, I have to find out who did it.

Somehow, James and Elaine hadn't noticed my soul color yet. They were too busy being worried. They wouldn't understand if I told them. It would take too much time to explain it to them. So with no time to lose, I flee the battle.

With the two left suspending in the air, I hit the snow and try to run. Immediately, puddle splashes are turning my shoes wet. Annoyed and frantic, I go faster. The wind is biting at my face. I turn back once to see their reactions. Their eyes are wide and confused, and Elaine has an arm extended towards me, but I can't hear them. I'm already too far away.

I have to leave them behind. They'd just slow me down. It wasn't like it mattered anyway. Nothing else in this timeline would matter anymore. So now, I could find answers without being afraid of mistakes.

Hopefully, if my speculation was right, I would reach my answers at Snowdin.

* * *

 _What in the world?_

I'm standing at the edge of Snowdin, and watching this crazy scene unravel before me.

There is a huge crowd of Snowdin civilians. They're loud and worried, their eyes round with fascination and fear. They form a big circle around this flying airshow, where two figures are zipping around in the air. One stands on three parallel lines, the other unleashing projectile after projectile at his opponent. The shots are loud and they pierce the air. This scene is oddly familiar, and for a moment, I feel a twinge of amusement. For some reason, it's not hard to guess who these flying figures are.

Terrified and momentarily forgetting about Snowdrake's death, I ditch my backpack and dash forward to break through the crowd. But it is too dense and no one's paying attention to my despair. However, I've gotten close enough now that I can actually hear the two yelling:

"You _lied_!" I hear a familiar voice screech. "You lied to me! I thought you understood what _justice_ meant!"

"What are you talking about?" I hear a disbelieving tone from the other side of the battlefield. "Have you gone crazy?" I try to lift my eyes to the sky to catch a glimpse of them, but I am short compared to the crowd, and my eyes are blocked.

An angry growl, "I can't _believe_!-" More loud shots being fired, and everyone grows even more restless. Confused and panicked, I slowly find myself getting lost in the crowds. Which way was out and which was in? I had forgotten. My mental direction wasn't helping either. What was happening? What were they doing, and why? And how was I going to get out of this mess?!

Thankfully, the decision is made for me. Two gloved hands suddenly hook themselves under my arms, bringing me out and above the crowd. Now I can see everything, from the tops of the monster's heads to the furious air battle raging above me.

"HUMAN! IT IS NOT SAFE TO VENTURE OUT INTO MYSTERIOUS CROWDS FULL OF MONSTERS!"

Baffled, I finally turn around to see my rescuer and see a familiar smiling face. " _Papyrus_?" Seeing him makes my heart drop into the pits of my stomach, but he doesn't notice my reaction.

"THE HUMAN KNOWS MY NAME!?" He exclaims happily, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "WOWIE!"

"Papyrus, what are you doing here?"

He quickly recovers. "WELL TO PUT IT SIMPLY HUMAN, YOU WERE IN SUCH A HURRY THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE ME WHEN YOU RAN PAST!" He puts on a contemplative look. "BUT YOU HAD SUCH A STRANGE EXPRESSION ON YOUR FACE… SO I KNEW THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAD TO FOLLOW YOU!"

I blink at him. Had I really run past him on the way here? And had I really been so focused that I hadn't even noticed him? I shake my head in a hurry, dispelling thoughts. "Papyrus, do you have _any_ sort of idea as to what's happening here?" I gesture frantically to the fight above me, vainly hoping he knew something about it. Not to mention that it was only sounding more ferocious by the second.

He looks up, a dubious look on his face. "SURPRISINGLY, EVEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS HAPPENING." But suddenly, a look of recognition passes across his face. "HEY! I KNOW THESE TWO HUMANS! IT'S ONE OF THE TWO PEOPLE THAT WERE STAYING AT OUR LOVELY HOME! BUT WHY ARE THEY FIGHTING?..."

Papyrus still had not set me down, leaving me in an awkward position as he spoke aloud his doubts, but now he had me interested. "Both of them were staying in your house?" I ask, wondering if I had heard right.

"INDEEDLY!" Papyrus nods quickly. "SURELY, THEY MUST BE PLAYFIGHTING!" A bead of sweat rolls down the side of his skull as he continues to convince himself. "YEAH! THEY MUST JUST BE PRETENDING TO HAVE A FRIENDLY LITTLE BATTLE! WHY ELSE WOULD THE CROWD BE SO ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT IT? NYEH."

I realize that what he says is true. The crowd doesn't seem very confused or terrified. Maybe baffled, yes, but they also seem to be rooting for one of the contestants at the same time. Why would that be? The fight was obviously a serious battle, and no one was just playing around. Why in the world was…?

My train of thought stops short when I see another familiar face in the crowd. It's Cinder! Her hair is tangled and she looks like a mess, but she's making her way over towards us. Her progress is slow though, and within moments, her face disappears in the masses of bodies again.

I hear a loud screech of pain above me, and then a snort. "Cooooome on!" One of them sighs dramatically. "Let's just stop the battle. There's no way you can win anyway..."

"I am _not_ giving in!" The other yells back. "Justice demands it!"

My mind is swirling. I don't know what to do. Sans is nowhere to be seen. I've left James and Elaine behind. Cinder and I are stuck in a crazy mob that apparently wants to spur on the fight. And obviously, Joyce and Cowboy are up in the air, battling to the end. What can be done? Do I find Cinder first, and interrogate her for more details on what's going on? Should I charge back to find James and Elaine, and ask them for their help? Should I join in the battle, and defend Cowboy from Joyce? What are they even _fighting_ about?

The whole time, Papyrus watches me, judging the expressions on my face. "HUMAN, I SEE YOU ARE IN NEED OF GUIDANCE!" He decidedly jogs outs of the crowd to my displeasure, but thankfully sets me down. "FEAR NOT! FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL HELP YOU!"

"You've already helped me." I say to him honestly. "But now, I just want to help too. I just don't know how."

"JUST DO WHAT YOU FEEL IS RIGHT." He says. "DO WHAT YOUR HEART TELLS YOU TO DO."

"...what?" I frown at him, but he just smiles wider at me. "I…" I look down at the ground. All around me, sounds are echoing at me. The substance underneath my feet is hard and rocky. It is purple, and there are magenta crystal rocks sticking out of the ground, jabbing into the soles of my shoes. They shine, a layer of red coating their brilliance. The red spreads onto the ground, like a disease, and soon enough it reaches my feet. Then slowly, the red liquid is starting to seep into my shoes…

I blink. It's just white snow. And the melted stuff is seeping into my socks. Ew.

But now I know what I want to do. Maybe it's because I feel like I owe him. Maybe it's because I feel guilty. Maybe it was an entire different reason altogether. But what mattered was that I was going to help.

"I'm going back in." I tell Papyrus, and before he can stop me or say anything else, I dive back into the crowd.

The breathlessness is back. Everyone is just so _loud_. The crowd is tight around me, and I feel like I'm getting my own determination squeezed out of me, but I know that everything will be alright once I reach the center. The crowd was forming a circle, after all, so there must've been _some_ kind of clearing once I've reached the middle…

I come to a stop when something latches onto my wrist. Confused and slightly annoyed, I attempt to turn my head around to see what it is. It's Cinder's hand.

"Erisa!" She exclaims with surprise before her face morphs into concern. "Where are you _going_?"

The name-calling is irritating me so much, but I can't stop and chit-chat. I struggle to escape her grasp, but her hand is tight around mine. "I have to go help." I respond, attempting to fit myself through the crowd.

"Go help?" Cinder's eyes narrow. "No, you don't need to go help Joyce. It's too dangerous. Let's just get out of here." She starts to pull me away, but I stand my ground.

"Help _Joyce_?" I scoff. "What made you come to _that_ conclusion?"

"Well, who else could you be talking about?" I can hardly make out her words over the screams of excitement from the monsters around us.

I almost respond to her question, that is, until I remember how oblivious she had been in the first run as well. And not to mention, how much she had disregarded Cowboy when I tried to convince her that he was innocent. Explaining things to her would not accomplish anything. However, she was still holding onto me.

"Just let me gooo…" I whine, tossing my arm around.

"Erisa!" She snaps, and I shut my mouth. "This isn't funny. We literally need to get out of here, now. I'll explain things to you, but we first need to leave this place."

Answers, huh? Tempting. I think about the pluses this has to offer. I can get explanations, and some of my questions can finally be answered. I can find out what's wrong with everyone, and use that to figure out how to fix it for the better in the next run. Anything else besides knowledge and information will be useless in this timeline. Everything else will be reset except my memories.

But the consequences? I wouldn't be able to help Cowboy. That was all.

It was pretty darn obvious which option was _far_ better. But I was indignant.

"Okay." I finally reply.

"Good." She responds with relief, finally letting my hand go. She turns her head away from me, which was a mistake on her part. "Just follow me, and we'll be out in no time..."

Her voice fades away into the crowd as I turn away and return to finding the center of the mass of monsters. Imagining that I'm in a swimming pool, I reach my arms forward and pull back the currents of people to propel myself forward. Once a stroke's finished, I repeat and do it again. Surprisingly, this seems to work. It feels like I'm gliding, and I weave my way between everyone as I quickly make my way onwards to my destination.

Like I had guessed, the crowd is thinner towards the center, and eventually it's not even a challenge to see what's in front of me. Dashing to the middle, I snap my head upwards. They're right above me. But how do I join the battle? They're too far up, and it's not close enough to initiate me as a contestant…

Wait. Can I even join the fight in the first place? I've only ever went against more than one person at a time… there were no promises that this would even work. But monsters would sometimes attack me in threes… so there was still a possibility! There would be only one way to find out.

"Joooyce!"

The monsters around me are giving me puzzled looks, wondering what this random stranger in the crowd is shouting for, probably. One of the figures in the air stops momentarily, and turns her face downwards to survey the crowd. Her eyes glinting and ponytail swinging, she frowns before avoiding another bullet projectile without even looking at it. "Who said that?"

I take a deep breath. "You're ugly!"

She blinks, still trying to locate the source of the voice in the crowd. There's basically no response, besides her moving among her platforms to avoid attacks… is she not even slightly offended?

"You're dumb! You're fat…" I can't help but snicker before adding, "You're obese!"

She narrows her eyes, but she doesn't come down. She's surprisingly calm… how? WIth her arms crossed, she performs a 360 in the air, then flips to deflect a couple bullets at her opponent, barely paying the crowd any mind. How am I supposed to grab her attention?...

I get an idea. "You left James behind, you traitor!" I shout, and she freezes in the air. Bullets whizz past her while barely hitting her, but she's listening now. "You betrayed him! You're heartless!" A grin. "How can Sans _ever_ love a heartless purple-souled freak like you?~"

That finished it off. Suddenly completely abandoning the thought of the battle, she growls in fury and flies towards the crowd at an amazingly great speed. "Okay, who the _frick_ just said that?!" She yells in anger, fists clenched and a murderous look on her face.

Before I'm even completely sure of what's happening, my soul is being drawn out. This was what I had aimed for, but what now? I hadn't thought this far ahead. Um! Joyce has caught sight of me now, and disbelief now replaces her annoyance. "Erisa?"

I leap to the air, whizzing past the people's heads. The monsters' mouths are open in shock, with an entire different wave of emotions upon every one of their faces. While Joyce is busy being baffled, I zoom towards the sky to find the other contestant. His shirt tucked in and the hat still sitting neatly upon his head, the familiar sight makes me smile. He's still upside down though, and when he sees me, he gives me a once-over, like he was actually in a position to judge me when he was the one upside down.

"Who are _you_?" He scowls, demanding and suspicious. He does a double-take when he sees the color of my soul, but somehow manages to keep his composure.

"Don't worry!" I raise my hand in surrender. "I'm just a friend, I promise." I fly over to him quickly, and seeing that I don't have any weapons, he lowers his guard slightly. Closer up, I can actually see that he's hurt. There's some scratches on his arms and legs, with a more serious cut across his cheek. He overall looks pretty battered, and it only continues to convince me that he needs my help.

"How can I be sure?" He questions me, still holding onto his gun.

I stare at him, deflating a little. There's only caution and uncertainty in his eyes. The amount of trust on his face equals zero. All the times I've spent with him are forgotten with the timelines. It's sad that those days are gone forever, like dust blown away by the wind… but there's nothing that can be done about it. I just have to focus on the present.

"Cowboy…" I start to say, but then suddenly shake my head. "No… Justin." His eyes widen in surprise. "Please believe me when I tell you that I'm on your side."

"Wha…" The most quizzical look suddenly crosses his features. "How'd you know my name?"

"Later." I promise, looking behind my shoulder.

He blinks at me, confused and surprised and just… relieved. He casts a glance towards the crowd, before darting back to Joyce's angry figure slowly approaching us. I can almost feel the waves of her emotions, and they are dangerous.

"W-well." He takes a deep breath. "This is absolutely _crazy_ but… alright then. As long as you're not in cahoots with her." He jabs a thumb toward Joyce.

"Don't worry," I grin. "After all, Justice always wins in the end, right?"

He blinks back at me before putting on a small, mischievous smile of his own. "Let's see just how worthy you are of Justice, then."


	9. Misconception

**this should've come out earlier, but i was also making sure that i knew what i was doing in the next chapter**

 **translation: the next chapter is basically almost done! :D**

* * *

" _You two!_ " Joyce growls, looking baffled and furious at the same time.

Cowboy promptly ignores her for the time being. "So, just how exactly are you going to help me accomplish Justice?" He asks promptly, bringing up his gun again to aim at Joyce. "You don't have any far-ranged weapons, I would guess, and going close is too risky." He scoffs a bit. "It'll just be a melee."

It's strange communicating with someone when they're upside-down, but who was I to complain? "Maybe I can do both." I hum thoughtfully in reply, but my stomach is churning. Joyce's expression is making me feel queasy.

I know what he says is true. I can't go close up with the risk of Cowboy shooting me, which only left me with the choice of using a far-ranged weapon. But I didn't have one, and the box was far below us. I wouldn't be able to reach it in-battle, much less hope for the chance the Empty Gun would be there again. I suddenly remember an instance during the Mettaton EX battle of the first timeline, when James had formed a handgun to shoot bullets. It wouldn't hurt to try.

I was going to have to try to go upside-down again. Sigh.

Cowboy yelps next to me. "She's approaching!" He warns me, flying away. I look forward and see Joyce zooming towards us in a surf style, her knees bent in a battle pose as the three purple poles rapidly start to get closer. There's no time to think. I dive out of the way, but Joyce veers sharply to stop me from getting too far. The poles barely pass over my head, and I scowl as I try to get away. Me being too close to Joyce would just be a disadvantage to Cowboy, if anything. He wouldn't be able to fire bullets without feeling guilty about it, so I try to get away, but Joyce is hot in pursuit.

Is it just me, or is she only aiming for me now?

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaim in disbelief, ducking underneath another swipe and slipping between two more poles. "Will you just _quit it_ already?"

"What do you mean?" She grins, speaking louder than usual. Her familiar face of mischief is giving me more discomfort than it should. "You're obviously teaming up with that traitor over there, so I'll just have to put an end to you as well!"

The crowd below us goes silent for a moment, but returns to being even louder than it was before. Thoroughly confused at her words and the crowd's actions, I back off towards Cowboy, and Joyce lets me.

"Nice moves." He compliments me, looking a little surprised but still serious. The blood streak on his cheek is starting to dry too.

"What is _going_ on?!" I question him, demanding. "What is that _huge_ crowd doing down there? What are you two trying to accomplish? What started this fight in the first place?"

" _She_." He spits, suddenly looking very angry. " _She. Killed. Snowdrake_." At my blinks of surprise, he continues in a hard tone, "Murder is not a simple crime to dismiss. She's committed a felony, and I, Justice, will have to correct her."

"...what?" I don't know why I'm surprised. Joyce certainly seemed like that kind of person… but didn't she know? Didn't she understand that doing these actions would permanently prevent a Pacifist run? Wouldn't _Joyce_ , of _all_ Undertale addicts, have known that?

The crowd had become more restless, shouting and pumping their fists, pointing accusing fingers at Cowboy and I. Their brows are furrowed and their expressions are _angry_. Confused, I face Cowboy and motion to the crowd. "Could you try to explain _that_ , at least?"

Before he can even get a word out, a huge branch flies right between us, barely scratching both of our faces. Leaping back in caution, I turn my gaze back to Joyce.

"Stop talking already!" She growls, but now she's looking at Cowboy. However, I don't miss the sight of her eyes nervously flickering back to me. "Face me like a man!"

Cowboy doesn't hesitate to swing out his gun and take aim, but Joyce is no different, charging right at us. Is she not afraid of hitting the bullets at this close range? I back off, hoping to think up a plan and get a better view of what's happening. Cowboy launches a couple vaults, and right before they meet with Joyce's figure, I see a glint of red in her eyes.

With unimaginable speed, she ducks, swerves, and avoids every single bullet, charging straight towards Cowboy. He barely moves away in time, and Joyce turns quickly to hit him square in the stomach with one of her log poles.

As Cowboy is sent sailing across the sky, the crowd below us starts cheering. Worried and confused, I try to fly over to Cowboy, but a stupid girl with a ponytail is blocking me.

"You don't need to drag yourself into this, you know." Joyce stops me, flicking her ponytail behind her shoulder. "This is a fight between me and him, alone."

"No." I disagree, "This is _our_ battle. We fight together."

"Oh, really?" She sighs, shaking her head and making a small shrug. "I don't even know why you're helping him. I mean, _he_ was the one that started attacking me in the first place. And for no reason at all!"

Wait, _Cowboy_ started the fight, and not Joyce? "W-well!" I reply quickly, "That's because you killed Snowdrake!"

" _What_?" Joyce makes mock surprise on her face. "How _dare_ you suggest such a thing! I would never do something as horrible as that. You of all people should know, right?"

Suddenly, I'm uncertain. The things she's saying makes sense… but I don't want to betray Cowboy. I trusted him. My mind wanders back to the first timeline in the Waterfalls. Cowboy could've led me to safety, but I had left him and almost met my own demise. Then I remember Joyce too, and how she had savagely attacked me.

There was no way Joyce could be innocent. "You're lying." I say, "And we're going to prove it."

"Erisa, Erisa…" She smirks with her arms crossed, teasing. "You don't seriously think you can win, right?"

"Of course we can!" I respond indignantly, trying to figure out a way to move around her. Over her shoulder, I notice Cowboy slowly regaining his senses. Maybe if I distract Joyce when her back is turned, he can get a shot in. "I mean, it _is_ two against one, so…" I hesitate when I meet Cowboy's eyes, and I make a slight nod to signify that he should hurry.

"Haha…" Joyce makes a small chuckle. "Now _that's_ where you're wrong." Before my brain can process what she means, her eyes shine crimson and she lunges her poles at me, right as Cowboy pulls the trigger.

The bullet is flying so fast that I can't even see it, yet somehow, Joyce stops mid-lunge and turns her pole so that it deflects the offending object perfectly. "Really? You think I'll fall for something as stupid as that-"

I pounce onto Joyce's open back, but before I can even make contact, she swings her arm around and slaps me square on the face. With a gasp, I'm flung away from her, with a stinging pain residing on my cheek.

At least now I'm closer to Cowboy. I quickly regroup with him, rubbing my face with the palm of my hand. "What in the world?" I sputter, unbelieving.

"It's been like that throughout the whole battle." Cowboy sighs. "I try to get a shot in, but she always reaches me without getting hit even once. It's ridiculous." He spits.

Suddenly, I'm not sure anymore. What had changed? Joyce was just like an undefeatable, impenetrable enemy. Did she have no weaknesses? I suddenly doubted that even turning myself into a Justice soul would help this time. Maybe there was another ability soul color, where I could cheat my way through this?...

My thoughts first flicker to the orange soul. Of course! If the blue soul allowed you to avoid attacks just by standing still, then the orange soul must've been the opposite. If I had that ability, I could surely stand against Joyce!

"I have an idea." I start, some hope inside me. I explain to him the details as fast as possible. Towards the end, I add, "Distract Joyce. I'm going to see if it works."

"What?" Cowboy frowns at my randomness before sighing. "Well, whatever plan you can think of at this point is better than nothing, I guess." He drifts forward, and I shut my eyes in concentration. _Bravery_. I need to be brave, right? Just thinking of the trait and believing in it, it's what got me to change my soul for Justice. All it took was to be who I wanted to be.

Be brave. I need to have courage. I need to step into the unknown, seek for what's beyond. I can't be scared, I can't be afraid. I have to erase those thoughts, I've got to stay strong. I'll be strong for Cowboy. I'll be brave for Justice.

The thoughts of encouragement are certainly nice, but there's nothing. Not a tingling in my soul, no feeling of change anywhere around me. Thoroughly confused, I try harder. Concentration must be the key… it _must_ be why I'm not changing soul colors. That must've been the reason. I was in a battle, after all. I must be distracted, that's all. I can do this! _Come on..._

" _Watch out_!" Cowboy's voice rings across the area, and I snap my eyes open. A pole is right in my face. A millisecond later, it's made contact with my side, slamming into me with unimaginable force.

"That's what happens when you drop your guard around me." Joyce smirks, twisting her pole to get another hit in. I slide underneath, but not thinking clearly, I had let Joyce pin me down with the poles, weighing down on me in the air. I struggle to escape, but every time I make a move, she strikes me with a foot to the head or the hands.

Bruised and sore and frustrated, I finally escape between the gaps of her poles, flying away from her as fast as possible. With a quick glance at my soul, I see it's still a bright red, with no change in color at all. Did thinking brave thoughts really not work?

"Well that worked so well." Cowboy scoffs, turning to me. "Are you even sure you know what you're doing?"

"I don't understand it." I growl. "Why's Joyce suddenly so fast? She's not _this_ good at fighting…"

"How do you sound so certain?" Cowboy asks with surprise, suspicion on his face. "You've never fought her before or anything…"

I blink at him, realizing I have nothing to say. The first time I had fought Joyce she had been difficult, yes, but I had still defeated her nonetheless. This was an entirely different scenario. Even with Cowboy on my team, we were no match for her. How did this happen?

My list of possibilities were slowly growing smaller and smaller. I looked across the sky at Joyce, feeling my courage drain away. I couldn't change my soul to any useful colors, much less actually _do_ it. Long-range attacks would prove fruitless. She could handle us both at the same time, even with her back turned. She had no weaknesses. Well, except-

"Frisk, hey!" A voice shouts out from below, and I recognize it. Looking down, I see two more familiar figures waving at us from the crowd, looking completely baffled. The monsters around them are bristling with caution. "What's happening?!"

Suddenly, there's a glimmer of hope inside of me.

"More people?" Cowboy comments with surprise. "I hadn't known there would be more of us down here." He sees my expression of concentration. "Do you know them or something?"

I don't answer him, but instead turn my attention to James, standing on the ground below us. "Hey James!" I shout quickly. "Joyce betrayed us!"

Elaine blinks in confusion at the scene around her, not understanding anything. James just frowns, searching the sky with his eyes to catch a sight of her. "What?"

"Yeah!" I continue, "She killed Snow-"

The interruption was quicker than I had expected. Cowboy had grabbed my arm and tugged me to the side, helping me to avoid another lunge from Joyce. Hadn't she just been on the other side of the area? How'd she get here so quick?...

Joyce is fuming, her eyes darker than ever as she points another tree branch at us. " _Don't. You. Fucking dare._ "

"What?" I tease. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I mean." She growls, leaping again. Cowboy grits his teeth and dashes to the side, holding up his gun to aim. I latch onto one of Joyce's poles, swinging around it in uncontrolled circles as I try to regain my posture.

"No idea." I grin back innocently, barely balanced at the end of her pole. "Just thinking I should tell James the truth, you know?"

"He'll never believe you." She responds, eyes narrowed and dangerous.

"Then what's got you so fired up?"

Angry and desperate, she struggles to swing me off of her poles, but I stay latched on like a koala hugging a bamboo shoot. Furious, she starts turning herself in dizzying circles, and I lift a hand to signal a thumbs up.

Cowboy starts shooting. The bullets whizz past the air above me, right at Joyce, but she still manages to avoid them somehow. However, it's obvious that she's less coordinated. Her mind is tangled in a mess of frustrated thoughts, and me hanging off the edge of her platform is giving her an imbalance. We're doing it.

"Why're you fighting?" Elaine shouts at us from below, an edge of panic in her tone. I ignore her, and focus on Joyce's feet. They're starting to head to my end of the poles, and I was not looking forward to attaining shoe print tattoos.

Joyce lifts her leg and brings it down, but I move out of the way, attempting to make my way under her poles and quickly crawl away to the opposite end. Cowboy has returned to firing bullets, each of them missing Joyce by millimeters. I hope he knows what he's aiming for.

I swing myself over, so that Joyce and I are standing at opposite ends of the pole. We're facing each other head-on now. I hoped my skills would be enough to avoid Cowboy's bullets at the same time.

"You've been enough trouble." Joyce growls, starting forwards, her eyes a complete darker shade of crimson. "Enough playing around. I'm going to silence you now, once and for all."

"You sound like Cowboy." I comment as I meet her in the middle, and letting out a screech, she makes the first swing.

I know nothing about counterattacks, but yet, I managed to duck below her first attack and kick my legs towards her's. She jumps once before striking her own foot outwards, but I leap back in a crouched position. Bullets are sailing above our heads, but I could handle it. Joyce continues to go on the offensive, keeping me going backwards until I've reached the edge. However, I easily hop onto a side line, giving myself more room to move around. I hardly know what I'm doing anymore, but it seems to be working. Joyce kicks, swings, punches, but I avoid them to the best of my ability, trying to position myself in a way that would be easier for Cowboy to aim.

 _Ow!_ She's managed to get one hit in on my shoulder, and then on the shin, but there's no time to attend to it or examine them. I keep on the move, darting between her own poles like a cat. A quick glance at her face shows me that her eyes are completely red.

" _Get the hell off my territory!_ " She growls, making a larger leap, but knowing that she'll have to land on one of her poles due to her soul color, I duck in such a way so that she cannot reach me. I steal a look down at the crowd to see why Elaine and James have gone quiet. It looks like they're talking with the other monsters.

"Sharing is caring." I huff in response, launching myself off the current pole, but she's recognized the pattern now. She stops me simply by sticking out a leg, and after running right into it and collapsing, I've found myself right where she wants me. Right underneath her deadly glare and her stinky, damn foot.

"Ha!~" A familiar drawl comes out of her mouth, and I suddenly know that Joyce is no longer in control. "You thought you could outsmart me? I know better than that. After all, you're nothing more than a little pebble on the side of the road.~" She leans forward, her triumphant face suddenly close to mine. "You of all people should know that… partner."

It was in that split second that it happened.

Long hair strands fly out from behind her head, blowing into the air and floating down to the crowd below. Joyce's eyes slowly open wide with shock and realization, but what's most important is that they're no longer red.

With no time to hesitate, I throw off her foot and strike her while she's still paralyzed by her loss. I deal two more consecutive hits to her to her upper body while she's off-balanced, and attempt a kick at her waist. She's can't counter, not having fully recovered yet from regaining control, and she just stands there and takes it all in like a training dummy.

After a thorough beat-up, Joyce regains her senses and threads her fingers through the roots of her hair, and the rubber band finally falls off. Her short, uneven hair now falls down around her bruised face, and absolute horror has found its way onto her expression. I couldn't help thinking that her new, shaggy look really suited her.

After a moment, Joyce shakes her head and straightens up. She's barely holding herself up, but her eyes are nonetheless dark. "I wasn't kidding when I said you couldn't win." She mumbles.

"You're in quite the state to say that." I reply, eyebrows raised in innocence.

"I'm serious." She says, a more dangerous tone now lacing her voice. "It doesn't matter how many times you beat me, or how many times you come back to stop me. None of it matters if I'm always first."

I narrow my eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm always going get here first before you do. There's nothing you can do to change the future if the past has already happened." She crosses her arms and taps her elbow, waiting for me to understand.

My eyes widen a bit. "You're lying." I say.

"You get it now, don't you?" Joyce makes a shrugging gesture. "No matter how many times you try to fix this, it'll always end up the same way. I'm always going to make things harder for you, and it doesn't matter how quick you are about it."

My heart is racing. "No." I say. "No! You're wrong!"

Her smile widens. "Then why don't you try again?" She asks me. "See just how quickly you can get to me before I slay Snowdrake again, hm?"

Before I can counter her threat, she twitches to the side, a bullet merely passing right by her shoulder. They're coming from Cowboy. Then there's another, and another. However, her moves are sloppy. She might get hit eventually, but I don't have the patience to wait.

I step forward and swing as hard as I can, right at her face.

Just like that, she's down. With an abrupt end, our souls are drawn back into our bodies, and Joyce's poles disappear underneath my feet. I finally look over to Cowboy, and he gives me a quiet look.

"Justice has been served." He decrees.

The crowd uneasily parts underneath us, and the three of us drop to the cold ground. Only Joyce doesn't get back up.

Well, this was awkward. My heart was still beating dramatically fast from the battle and the turn of events. I face Elaine and James with an apologetic look, knowing I had a lot to explain. The crowd around us seems shocked to silence.

James is the first to speak. " _What_ did you _do_ to her?!" He shouts at me with a look of betrayal on his face, and rushes over to Joyce's unconscious body. Elaine takes a step toward me, but after a moment of hesitation, she steps back again, a wary look on her face.

I could understand James' reaction, but… what?

Cinder suddenly steps out from the bodies of the crowd, a serious look on her face. For some reason, she does not look happy to see me. "It's over, Erisa." She says.

"I…" I cock my head. "I don't understand."

"They've told me everything." Elaine answers quietly to my expression, gesturing to Cinder and the monsters around her. "They've explained the situation."

"Oh." I sigh a breath of relief. "That's good." I stop when I continue to see her shuffling backwards a little, a scared look on her face. "Wait…" I narrow my eyes suspiciously. "Did they _really_ explain everything?"

"Hey." I turn around to the voice of Cowboy. He's got a hand held up, trying to reassure me, but there is no doubt an uneasy look on his face. "Look, I'm not exactly sure how you knew to help me or why you did, but-"

Before he can even finish the sentence, the crowd leaps into action. They yell and shout and envelop us, their angry voices echoing in my ears as I'm swept off my feet. There are so many kinds of monsters, even ones that I've never seen before. Startled by the uprising, I'm unsure as to how to react when they roughly latch onto my arms and trap me in their holds, keeping me from moving or getting away.

"H-hey!" I shout out, struggling in their grasps. "What are you doing?" Everything is noisy and loud, and my friend's faces are disappearing behind the masses of bodies as I am being carried away. James fussing over Joyce on the ground. Elaine's look of fear. Cinder's emotionless face. Cowboy's shouts of protest as he, too, gets tugged away.

What was going on?

"Quickly!" A monster shouts from far away. "Call a nurse, we need a doctor! She's seriously hurt!"

"You ugly thing." A closer monster growls, disgust on his face when he sees me. "I can't believe you'd do such a horrible thing."

"Why'd you help that traitor?" Another one squeals at me, "She'd done nothing to you, and that's how you treat her?"

"You're a terrible person." They echo.

"You unthoughtful being."

"You traitor."

"You murderer."

I blink rapidly, feeling lightheaded. What was happening? I didn't understand any of it. All the jostling and jabbing and shoving around made me feel nauseated. When would it stop? Why were they doing this? What had I done to deserve any of this?

Finally, I see two figures I can recognize. Maybe they can sort this out. A tall one in red, and a shorter one in blue. They look hazy in my vision. I realize that I'm tearing up, actually feeling a little overwhelmed from everything that was happening around me.

"Please, brother!" The one who I know is Papyrus protests to the one in blue. My spirits lift a little when I hear what he's saying, "I know they are both good people! Even the new one… she was very nice! I know they would never harm another person out of bad intentions!"

"Paps, I know you believe in everyone, but not all people are as nice as you'd like to imagine."

"But I _know_ they are good!" He continues in a determined tone, one gloved finger raised. "I know it!"

The shorter one looks like he is about to respond, but he stops when the crowd around me shoves me forward, forcing me to draw closer. He slowly turns and looks right at me, his eye sockets narrowed and suspicious.

"So you're the new one." He growls, his low voice trailing over my ears.

I'm trembling. "...Sans?"

"So." He grins, sockets dark. "We're awfully curious as to why you've decided to attack our beloved human without any reason. You mind explaining everything to us, buddy?"


	10. Interrogation

**Oops, I almost forgot this chapter existed.**

* * *

The Royal Guard Dogs have replaced the crowd around me, keeping a firm grip on me. "C'mon, this way." Sans beckons to them, and they push me forward to follow him.

"Where are we going?" I panic.

At Sans' silence, Papyrus steps in. "Please Sans!" He begs, gesturing frantically to the crowd around me. "There's no need for any of this. Why not just put the human through some puzzles instead?" He suggests, a bit of hope in his voice. "I'm quite positive that would be a much better solution to this conundrum!"

"Well, Paps…" Sans hesitates before putting on a small grin. "Just think of it this way. You'll be able to join the Royal Guard now."

Papyrus' eyes widen in amazement. "I _can_?" He grins, putting his hands next to his face.

"Yes." Sans responds, "But only if this human is turned in to them."

Papyrus is hesitating. Would he really sacrifice me in exchange for the position of being in the Royal Guard? He rubs the back of his skull, thinking. "It would be really nice," He admits, "If I could finally join the Royal Guard."

"Exactly." Sans says. "It's always been your dream. We'll just have a quick talk with the human, and then we'll figure out whether or not to hand them in to Undyne."

"So there's still a chance you won't turn them in?" He questions hopefully.

"Yes."

"And they won't be hurt even if they are?"

"Nope."

"And they'll be fine?"

"Yes."

"Okay then! I don't see anything wrong with this arrangement. After all, it's nothing the Great Papyrus can't handle." He nods, turning to me. "Don't worry, human! Sans is a good person, he would never hurt you. And even if you get turned in and I become a member of the Royal Guard, you will still be in the hands of Undyne! Although she is very violent, I know she would take good care of you! Nyeh!"

 _Yeah_ , I think to myself, _Good at taking care of my dead body._

"Then we're set." Sans holds up a thumbs-up, leading the way. The crowd around me shuffles forward, keeping me trapped in the midst of their bodies, not allowing me to escape. I've stopped struggling for a long time already. I whip my head around, trying to see where the others were, and figuring out whether or not they could see me being carried away. But I couldn't see anything, the monsters kept blocking my view whenever I turned my head.

My attention focuses back onto the skeleton in front of me. Sans. I could only see his back, but just staring at his jacket was giving me shivers down my back. I've worn that jacket before. I've held that jacket before. Bleeding, dusty, in my arms. I was scared.

But I was more scared for Cowboy. "Are you taking me and Justin to the same place?" I ask Sans, vainly hoping to get an answer.

"Shut it." Dogamy barks next to me. "You'll get plenty of time to talk once we get there."

"Get where?" But once again, their shushing tells me to be quiet. They won't listen now. Having no choice, I settle for being a good and silent captive. Maybe if I cooperated and got where we needed to be, I could explain and defend myself. I just had to be patient.

We're eventually led to the shed next to the skeletons' house. I have to stop myself from chortling a laugh. Sans opens the door to the shed and enters, with me being pushed right behind him. I've actually never been here before in person. I notice that the inside of the brown room is old and cracked, with some spiderwebs hanging in a few corners. The widely-spaced jail bars set up by Papyrus were also here, as I had guessed. I'm escorted in by Greater and Lesser Dog, but the rest stay outside, giving me piercing glares.

"That'll be all." Sans dismisses the dogs, even the ones standing next to me. "You should leave now. Ya know, get back to whatever you were doing before this started."

"You'll be alright alone with this human?" Doggo asks, one ear twitching and eyes flickering around nervously.

"Sure thing." He winks. "No need to worry about this sack of bones."

After some mutterings and woofs from the rest of the guard, they eventually disperse. The two standing next to me also depart, leaving me with one final warning bark before shutting the door behind them with a loud _bang!_ Had they even locked it?

"Come on." Sans slips between the wooden bars to the other side where a desk and two chairs sit. "Take a seat, kid." He invites me, sitting down on one side of the desk. I cautiously take the chair on the opposite end. It's like an interrogation room, minus the fact that I could probably escape at any moment I wanted.

"So," Sans starts, laid-back arms behind his head, "The name's Sans. Though it seems like you already know, heh."

I remember how I had mumbled Sans name when I saw him. A careless mistake. "Cowboy told me." Is my immediate response.

"Huh, I figured. Ya mind introducing yourself then?" He shuts one eye closed. "I don't think it's particularly fair for you to know mine and not have me know your's."

I gulp. Maybe it was better to play it truthfully instead of faking my name? No, there was no reason I had to tie these problems to my name. At the very most, I could piss Joyce off too. That would be a plus. "Frisk." I say.

"Ok." We awkwardly stare at each other in silence for a moment. Finally, Sans sighs. "Am I going to have to start this, or do you want to explain yourself?"

"It's not what it looks like." I respond quickly, trying not to focus too hard on his face, and instead switching my attention to the table top. "We're innocent."

Sans seems to notice my reluctance to look him in the face, taking it instead as a guilty reaction. "How so?" He asks, an amused expression on his skull. "You just charged in here and attacked a resident of Snowdin town without any reason, didn't ya?"

"I was helping Justin." I explain, "He told me what Joyce had done."

"And _what_ , may I ask, had she done?"

I grit my teeth. "She killed Snowdrake."

"Uh-huh." Sans continues to give me an unamused look. "I know."

I blink at him, giving him a confused look. That wasn't the response I had expected. Why wasn't he surprised? "You knew?" I question, baffled.

"Well, yeah." Sans huffs. "But everyone makes mistakes. She just didn't know what she was doing." He shrugs. "I mean, you should know, right? Being a human in the Underground is tough stuff. She was scared, and simply attacked out of fear. After that first encounter, she learned from her mistakes and never did it again."

"But… but Snowdrake!" I protest. "He's gone, dead now because of Joyce!"

"We've all mourned for him. Someone had to deliver the news to the rest of his family. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get into contact with his cousin or his mother. But we did find his father in the MTT Resort." He makes a small, helpless shrug. "He was devastated, and kept blaming himself for the accident. Joyce apologized profusely."

I stare at him, my mouth open in disgust. "Well, how can you be sure that she's a good person just from her apologizing for her mistakes?"

Sans gives me a warning glare, demanding me to tone down the hostility. "By the tone of your voice, I would've thought you knew her?" At my expression, he grins. "Guess it was silly of me to assume." He looks to the side, the pinpricks in his eyes looking thoughtful. " She's a good kid. She's nice to all the monsters here, and always willing to lend a helping hand. She's actually basically become one of us now, heh."

That sounded nothing like know-it-all Joyce. This must've been a mistake. And hearing it from _Sans_ , of all people, continued to raise my suspicions. "But isn't she ever stubborn, or rude?" I ask, and an immediate look of concern crosses Sans' face. However, my stupidity ignores it, continuing to plow on. "Not to mention, isn't she always kissing up to you? Doesn't she always cling to you and seek your attention?"

"Where are you getting this from?" Sans demands, a thoroughly baffled look on his face. "She's never done that before."

Suddenly, I realize I don't get it anymore. If that were true, it must've meant that Joyce had been a good person this timeline. She was kind to the citizens, and never did anything possessive or even slightly aggressive towards Sans. She had only killed Snowdrake, but she hadn't even so much as _touch_ another monster.

Suddenly, it all made sense. No wonder Elaine had looked so afraid of me, and Cinder so grim and serious. Cinder thought Joyce was nice, and so Elaine was told that. They believed in her, and that was why I was pinned with the blame. I was the one who attacked the kind, innocent human. Not the other way around.

But it couldn't have just been a mistake. It was impossible for Joyce to have killed Snowdrake out of fear. No, she had plenty of practice in the Ruins to know how battles worked. She should've known exactly what she was doing. Even during the battle, she had displayed her the fierce side of her personality. She had even threatened to kill Snowdrake again.

Joyce definitely hadn't changed one bit. But no one in Snowdin knew that.

Sans finally breaks the silence and puts a stop to my musing. "So you're telling me you were mislead?" He asks, a skeptical look on his face.

"U-uuh…" After a moment, I slowly nod my head, trying to look thoughtful and sound embarrassed. "I heard a lot of things from Justin. I guess I hadn't known that the things he said didn't actually match up with real facts. I had just jumped to conclusions, so that's why I helped him." My explanation reminded me strongly of Cowboy's own reasoning when he had come back to me in Waterfall to apologize. The resemblance made my heart clench.

After a moment of suspiciously staring at my wide, innocent eyes, he nods. "...That makes sense. Of course you would trust another human. Believing in him was the safest choice for you."

Relief fills me that he had fallen for the excuse. "Sorry."

"No need to be sorry for something you didn't start, kiddo." Sans shrugs.

I frown, suddenly feeling a little confused. Just like that... it was _that_ easy to convince Sans that I was innocent? "You believe me?" I ask him, skeptical.

"Mostly." He answers, tipping his skeletal hand side-to-side.

"And just 'cause I'm curious," I hum, " _How_ did you come to that conclusion?"

"You really like making things hard for me, huh, buddy?" He sighs drearily, almost like he hates to explain things, then leans forward to rest his arms on the table. "It just doesn't look like you could attack Joyce out of hate, since you don't seem to know her, ya know?"

I wondered if I was just digging a hole for myself, but I couldn't stop myself from blurting out, "But what if I'm lying?"

He grins in amusement, surprisingly playing along. "Then you wouldn't have attacked her, knowing that she was a good person."

"Oh." I suddenly realized I had actually slightly lifted myself upwards from the tension, and I move back to sit down again.

"Yep. That is, unless…" His grin suddenly falters as he looks to the side for a moment, but then he shakes his head. "No, I don't think you've-" He makes an even larger exasperated sigh, seeming more tired with this interview than ever. "You know what? Just… just be more careful about things like this next time. You don't want to do anything that you'll end up regretting, right?"

I felt bad for tossing away Cowboy's trust in me and throwing him under the table like that, but I knew this was the best choice for me to make. "Yeah, I will."

"It looks like you're pretty much cleared." Sans confirms, posture finally relaxing. "I wanted to believe Papyrus when he said you were good, ya know? But we can't just go around taking any chances at this point."

"Why not?"

"It's too dangerous. Any human that comes down here is just another threat to us monsters. And who knows? They might even kill us all, heh."

I narrow my eyes. That didn't sound like Sans at all. "What makes you think _that_?"

"Warning from Joyce." He responds simply. "She's told us all about humanity on the surface. We can never be too careful."

I hesitate. There was no way I was going to be able to get around this. Joyce was everyone's role model, their hope for humanity. I couldn't take that away, no matter how hard I tried. All I could do was try to gain information on the situation. "If it's not too much to ask," I start, "Could you tell me what really happened today?"

"Curious to know the truth, huh?" He winks. "You're just like someone I know."

Huh? "Who?"

He ignores the question, instead plowing right into the explanation. "Before you got here, Papyrus was patrolling the outskirts of Snowdin. The two humans were hanging out at our house. You know, the big house with lights that we passed by on our way here?" At my nod, he grins. "Yeah, my bro put those up. He loves them, 's part of the festive spirit. Anyway. Joyce had decided to leave the house to do something, and left Cinder on her own."

"And where were _you_?" I ask, wondering why he had left that particular tidbit out.

"Oh, at Grillbyz. It's the bar just down the street, next to the fork in the road."

"I know that." I frown. "But how did you know everyone else's whereabouts while you were there?"

"Why so suspicious?" He wiggles his bone-brows. I noticed he was ignoring the question. "What, so you're the interrogator now?" At my serious face, he gives me an unamused look. "What, you can't take a little humor? Papyrus filled me in on everything during the fight, kiddo. He also told me what Cinder told him."

Oh, of course he would respond that way. Nevertheless, I still doubted that it was the true reason. "Right. Sorry for interrupting." I dismissively wave my hand a little.

"Then Cinder heard a scream." I noticed how he was suddenly speaking in past tense; Papyrus' perspective. Definitely suspicious. "She recognized it, of course, and ran out. There was a small crowd starting to form in the center of town. As you can probably guess…"

"The fight." I realize. "So Cowboy had literally just… _ran_ in, and attacked Joyce?"

"Sounds like it." Sans responds, keeping a careful eye on me to see my reaction.

I clench my fists under the table again. The chances that Joyce would leave the house _right_ when Cowboy appeared to attack her, and when neither of the skeletons were around to stop it? "I hadn't known that."

"Right. The battle went on for a little while, since no one could put a stop to it. Then you and Paps appeared from out of the blue." He grins. "I'll admit I was a little surprised to learn that more humans, much less _three_ of them, had shown up to our humble little Snowdin town, heh."

"And nobody could hear us talking in the air during the fight?"

"Not from what I could tell, buddo." He huffs, smile still plastered on his skull. "I did see your mouths move, though. Does that count?"

I cross my arms. "And all this time while a battle was rampaging outside, you were in Grillby's eating a burger."

"Fries." He corrects. "How'd you know Grillbyz served burgers, anyway?"

I blink furiously. Um. "Just… a lucky guess."

"Either way, you're filled in with the details now. Ya satisfied?"

No. Definitely no. All this time, Justin and I had been trying to serve Justice, and when it had actually succeeded, this had to happen. I sigh. "Yes." I lie. I knew Sans could tell I was lying too.

But he puts up a skeletal hand, like he's trying to stop me from saying anything further. "'Kay kiddo, I think that's enough questioning for today. Take it easy for the rest of the day, take a stroll through Snowdin maybe, and we'll be finishing our business with Justin." The name sends an immediate spark running down my back. He hops off his chair, trotting over to the door to the cabin. I quickly get up and follow him.

"What will happen to him?"

"Based on what you've just told me," He hums, "Probably be turned in to the Royal Guard."

"R-really?!"

"He's not who we all thought he was." Sans shrugs, looking surprised at my reaction and pushing the door open without any resistance. So it really had been unlocked all this time! "Was a mistake on my part for assuming things, I guess."

My fists are clenched and I have to give everything I have to not shout at Sans. To not protest to these ridiculous claims, and to not defend Cowboy like I should've. It wouldn't matter anyway, I convince myself. I had already betrayed him, and there was no going back on that.

"Not who you thought he was?" I ask meekly.

Sans comes to an abrupt stop. There's two Royal Guard dogs outside, seeming to have been waiting there the whole time. It's Dogamy and Dogaressa. They give Sans guilty looks when they see him.

Sans cocks a bone-brow. "What're you guys still doin' here?"

"Sorry Sans!" Dogaressa apologizes.

"Sorry Sans." Dogamy repeats after her, almost simultaneously.

"We were just worried about you." Dogaressa continues, casting me a wary look. "We wanted to make sure you got out safely before departing. After all, what kind of Royal Guards would we be if the human got to you because we left?"

"I'm flattered you're concerned for me." Sans chuckles, jabbing a thumb at himself. "But I'm fine, as you can tell."

"Of course." Dogamy barks. "But what of the human?"

"This human is cleared too." Sans replies, sticking the arm back into his jacket pocket. "'Course, it doesn't mean they're harmless. Still, they mean well."

"Oh!" Dogamy immediately turns to me, giving me a sorry look. "I apologize about how I acted earlier, human. That harsh behavior was unnecessary of me."

"Me too!" Dogaressa woofs next to him.

"Um," I shake my head. "No, it's okay. You guys were just doing your jobs. You just had to be safe, right?" Sans gives me an approving look at the choice of my words.

"Thank you human." Dogamy responds, with Dogaressa barking the same words right after him. "We're glad you understand."

"Y-yeah…" I step forward, and reach up to give them a few hesitant pats on the head. The two wag their tails enthusiastically. That was a good sign.

"We must depart on our duties now." Dogaressa barks after a moment, facing Sans.

"Just spread word about the kid being cleared." He grins. "We don't want another unprovoked attack, do we?"

After giving me one more nod, the two dogs turn tail and scurry off in a direction. Then it's just me and Sans, standing outside in the cold snow.

"She did that too, when she first saw them."

Confused, I cock my head at Sans. "Who did what?"

"Joyce pet them too." Sans muses, using an interested tone. "When she saw them for the first time, it was her first instinct." He grins at me. "Guess you two are pretty similar, huh?"

Oh. "Y-yeah… I guess."

Sans starts walking again, and I find myself getting lost in thought. Nothing made much sense. Who was Joyce in this timeline? Did she mean anything to Sans? Was there… something more between them?

After all, Sans had seemed pretty overprotective about her. Not to mention the threat he sent at me after I was captured. Had he not referred to her as 'beloved?' Could that have meant something? Frustration and uncertainty was slowly crawling into my mind. Why did I care? Why was I worried about something so stupid?

After all, it was all going to have to be Reset anyway.

"Uh, are you gonna keep following me, kid?" Sans chuckles.

Oh. I realize I had just been trailing after Sans' footsteps in the snow without even thinking about it. "Uhm, I'm gonna go that way then." I jab a thumb behind me. "To the library."

"Huh." Sans raises a skeptical bone-brow. "How'd you know where the library is?"

I blink at him. "Um, we passed by it on the way to the shed?" I respond, trying to make it sound obvious. "It's literally right next your house."

"Right. Well, nice meeting you, Frisk." He turns his back on me, but waves still. "I'll be keeping an eye socket on ya."

Surprisingly, knowing that Sans would be watching me didn't fill me with any kind of unease. "Yeah," I smile. "Sure."

"I'll be taking care of things. You can just go do whatever. See ya 'round."

"Yeah. See you around." I slowly turn away to face the direction of the library, but stop when I feel a chill down my back.

"Just don't try anything funny."

Standing straight up, I quickly look behind my shoulder for a peek. But of course, Sans is already gone.

* * *

 **wow this was not supposed to be an entire chapter**

 **but now it is, so. *shrug* NYEH HEH HEH!**


	11. Just a Waste of My Time

**DEEPEST APOLOGIES!**

 **i guess summer really doesn't leave me extra time to write ;-;**

* * *

I wasn't sure what to do next.

Should I ditch everything I had just done to try to save Cowboy again?

Should I head to the library like I said I would, and maybe explore the rest of Snowdin town again?

Should I find Joyce and try to beat some answers out of her again?

And why was there an "again" at the end of every question? Was I really just that repetitive? Maybe my moves really were too obvious, too predictable. Everything I was doing had already been done once already. I would have to try something new, do something I had never done before.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I had already done it all.

There was only one way to erase what everyone already knew, and it was to Reset. If I was going to have to do it anyway, why not just try it now?

I scrunch my face up at the thought. As appealing as it was, I was not ready to throw away my efforts for this timeline yet. I would have to get _something_ , out of it, _anything_. I would have to try to glean some information before starting over. That was the least I could accomplish.

For a moment, I just stand there, analyzing my possibilities. What did I know? Snowdrake was dead. James and Elaine were alive this time, thanks to me. Joyce had left them in the Ruins, but she still held some good qualities about her, at least, in front of other monsters. Cowboy was taken away, and probably would be given to the Royal Guard.

The more I thought about it, the more grim the situation seemed to get.

My first priority should be to find my friends, I reasoned. I can tell them that I've been cleared by Sans and tricked by Cowboy, and they'll trust me again. They'll think that I've been fooled, and patch things up between Joyce and me. Joyce will have to be accepting of this arrangement, lest she wants to give up her goody-two-shoes act. Then when everything was settled, I could start asking questions.

I head over to the skeleton's household, which is basically right next door. They were most likely to be in there, if anything. And it was freezing outside. I was too lazy to go to any other building first, anyway.

It's only when I'm right on their front porch that I realize the door may be locked. It hadn't ever opened to me before until I fought Papyrus, so why would it now? I was about to make a retreat, but then the door started to creak.

A moment later, Papyrus comes erupting out the doorway and lifts me up before burying me with bony hugs. "Human! You've returned!"

Why was it always a habit of mine to approach a doorway right before it opened?

"Y-yep!" I grin, trying to hug back. "That's me."

"I knew you could do it!" Papyrus smiles, setting me back down. His gloved hand had suddenly moved up to stroke his jaw, as if he were pondering. "Although, I guess this means I won't be joining the Royal Guard… but your well-being comes first, human number two!"

"Human number two?" I look up at him with an amused expression.

"Yes!" Papyrus nods. "Since I did not know your name, I, the one and only Great Papyrus, made one up for you as a substitute!"

"Who's human number one, then?"

"The other boy in the hat from earlier!" He replies before peering outside the door, quickly turning his head left and right. "Say, where is he? Is he not with you?"

"He, um…" I find myself at a loss for words. "Can I come in first?"

"Why yes, of course!" He steps to the side and lets me in. "Please make yourself at home in my cozy abode, cold human!"

I step in, looking around at the familiar place. The closed TV, the messy kitchen, the patterned carpet, all of it. This was my third time here now. I shudder a bit just thinking about it – having been to this place three times really said something about how well I managed to fail timelines before resetting them.

"Who was at the door?" Someone asks from the couch to my left, looking over his shoulder to try to see. His eyes widen when he sees me. "Frisk!"

I jump a little at the name before raising my hand in a small wave. I didn't know why I felt so nervous seeing him. "H-hi, James."

"You're back!" He notes, climbing off the couch. Once he's moved, I see that Elaine was sitting next to him. I look around quickly, and can't helping sighing a breath of relief from the absence of Joyce in the room. "And if you've returned, that means… you're not guilty, right?"

"Very correct, human!" Papyrus answers for me, rejoining the party. "It was simply all a misunderstanding! Human-number-two is completely, 100% innocent! Nyeh heh heh!"

The way he put it in his completely oblivious voice actually made me feel more guilty, but I just put on a small smile before holding up a thumbs-up to confirm his statement.

Right after this response, Elaine's posture on the couch relaxes tremendously. It seems she was still afraid of me being a psychopathic killer or something. With more ease, she joins James in welcoming me back. After sitting ourselves down while waiting for Papyrus to cook up a new batch of spaghetti, I explain to them some of the events that had occurred. At least, I explained it in _their_ perspective.

I told them how Cowboy had tricked me into believing Joyce was evil, how I had teamed up with him to help him deliver Justice, and how Sans was able to explain the truth of things afterwards. James and Elaine seemed oddly satisfied; it was a wonder they were so willing to believe what I told them, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. When I asked them how Joyce was doing, they explained to me how she had been brought to the inn and was now being taken care of by monsters. Cinder was also apparently with her.

"They wouldn't let _us_ stay though." James huffs, arms crossed, "Since we were ' _newcomers_ ' and couldn't be completely trusted, so for now we're just waiting here."

"I'm just glad you're okay." Elaine tells me, a sympathetic expression on her face. "You had really scared me back there! I had thought for sure something horrible had happened to your brain."

"N-not really." I mumble sheepishly, scratching the back of my head uneasily.

"Still, you and that other jerk really did a number on Joyce." James huffs. "What were you thinking, teaming up on her? Two against one… hardly fair. And she hadn't even done anything wrong either…"

"I'm sorry." I say, trying to sound sincere. "It really was stupid of me to jump to conclusions…" I shrug before adding, "and we haven't really got the best back history with one another either…"

"Back history?" James frowns, suddenly curious.

Before I can answer, Elaine is already cutting in front of him. "But why did you ditch us?" She asks, "You know, from earlier with that encounter with Chilldrake. What was so important that you had to just… leave us like _that_?"

I think on it for a moment, trying to give a response they would accept. "I had a sneaking suspicion about something… that I had to confirm."

"What, that someone killed Snowdrake?" I blink with surprise at James, and he gives me a knowing look. "Well, we're not _completely_ stupid, you know. It's pretty clear that someone had to kill Snowdrake in order for Chilldrake to show up. You didn't have to run off on your own to confirm it – you could've just confided in us."

"Yeah!" Elaine puts in. "And we all know the boy with the hat was the one who did it!"

Ludicrous, I stare at the two of them, trying to figure out whether or not I should be surprised at them or angry for Cowboy.

"It's evident." James shrugs. "Not even something that needs to be thought about."

"I just can't believe he would do such a thing!" Elaine whines, looking a little scared. "Doesn't he know what killing _any_ monster down here would result in?"

"With his violent nature and all." James shrugs. "I wouldn't be surprised if he already wiped out the whole of Snowdin."

"But he _hasn't_." I growl, almost a little _too_ threateningly. But I couldn't control myself. The accusations my friends were throwing around was making my head _boil._

"Yeah, I know." James frowns. "I was just saying it wouldn't be unlike him to do so."

I narrow my eyes at him. "You know _nothing_ about Cowboy."

James smirks a little when the name I had given Justin slips out. But just as fast as his smile had shown, it quickly turns into a scowl. "Are you _defending_ him?"

"Well, we don't actually _know_ if he's guilty or not yet." I try to reason, "And just because he attacked Joyce on a false presumption does not mark him as a murderer!"

"Frisk." I stop, staring at Elaine's pleading face. "I know that you're only trying to care about everyone, and that you didn't ever mean to fight Joyce or betray anyone. But I think it's really time you just accepted the truth."

"The truth…?" I repeat.

"Just let it go." She continues, "This 'Cowboy' guy is really just not worth our time, and what he's done is unforgivable. Whatever happens to him now is whatever fate he gave himself when he chose to turn on us."

I stare at her, incredulous. "You've got to be kidding me." I say, hardly believing what I was hearing. One of my most trusted friends, instead of being supportive, was trying to discourage and trick me into betraying Cowboy?

"Just let it go." Elaine says gently. "There's nothing you can do that can change his fate."

 _There's nothing you do to change his fate._

 _There's nothing you can do to change anything._

 _There's nothing you can do at all._

 _Nothing._

I don't respond. Elaine and James look at me with confusion before turning to each other with their worried expressions. Elaine asks me a question, but my head is buzzing and I don't hear her. My body is shaking and I feel my soul thrumming powerfully inside of me.

"No." I stand up, determination blazing in my eyes. "You're wrong."

James stares at me suspiciously, hesitantly getting up too. "So you're saying he _didn't_ kill Snowdrake?"

"No." I answer, fists clenched. "What I'm saying is that I _can_ change my future… and I _can_ change Cowboy's fate." Elaine and James both look at me like I'm an alien spouting nonsense.

"But why would you want to?" James responds disbelievingly. "He hasn't done anything worth looking up to. Heck, he's only caused more trouble for you. Why're you so attached to his well-being?"

"Please don't try anything risky!" Elaine pleads, a worried expression on her face. "It'll just be a hopeless cause, and you can't just go beat the entire Royal Guard!"

"I know." I say, "But I have a different solution."

James' eyes narrow suspiciously. "You don't seriously mean…" At my set expression, his eyes widen. "You _can't_."

"Can't? Can't what?" Elaine looks between the two of us, seeming utterly confused.

"Determination." James stutters. "It's… Frisk has the red soul, so it only makes sense…"

Elaine blinks with surprise, seeming to have finally realized what James was getting at before turning to me with her mouth in the shape of an "o". "Frisk? Can you really…?"

I nod briskly.

"But… you can't!" Elaine protests. "Please don't do this… think of us! You can't just Reset all the hard work we've managed to gather together. Especially now that we're all safe and the only dangerous suspect of our kind is under the hands of the Guard –"

"You don't understand." I shake my head. "I have to Reset."

"No, _you_ don't understand!" James scowls, a frustrated look on his face as he rants. "Don't you get it?! This isn't some kind of joke, it's not some kind of _game_ for you to play around with! You were given power, and now you've got to respect it! It's not like you should actually be going around left and right, messing around with everyone's memories. Everything we do and did will be erased if you reset!"

I tilt my head. "I know."

"And!" James adds, speeding up with his explanation, almost as if he was afraid I would reset any moment, "You're going to do it because some… some random _guy_ was taken by the Royal Guard!"

"And because Snowdrake is dead. There's no other way to fix that."

"You sound so certain about it." Elaine comments meekly, adding onto James' voice of worry. "Is it possible that you've… actually already done this before?"

Elaine and James are both staring at me with wide, expectant eyes and scared expressions, and it's at this moment that Papyrus chooses to stick his head out the kitchen to check on us.

"Humans!" He grins, but it quickly drops a bit when he sees our grave expressions. "Um, is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine, Paps." I say.

"A-alright then! If you say so! But know that if you ever have a problem," He raises a single proud, gloved finger, "you can always call on me, the Great Papyrus!"

"Thanks, Paps."

"You're very welcome! Nyeh heh heh!" His head disappears around the corner once more. The clanking of pots and pans resumed.

I stand up, moving away from the couch and heading towards the door to leave. My mind was made up, and since these two weren't going to help me, I wasn't going to let them stop me either. Elaine gets up quickly, following me and trying to stop me with a hand on my shoulder, but I throw her off.

"Please, Erisa." She pleads. "Think this through at least..."

"I don't listen to friends that don't trust me." I glare at her before turning away. "And that's _Frisk_ , to you."

* * *

I give a few successive knocks to the front of the inn, since it was surprisingly locked. There are a couple of moments before the door opens up a crack, and a pink bunny monster – one that I recognize as the innkeeper – peeks through the door as if trying to asses whether the knocker was a threat or not.

"Hiya! Welcome to Snowed Inn, Snowdin's premier hotel!" She chirps, despite being half-hidden behind the door. "Can I help you?"

"Hi." I say non-threateningly. "I'm just here to see how Joyce is doing."

She suddenly blinks at me in recognition. "Oh! You're that new one, aren't you?" She opens up the door a bit more, and I finally get to see her entirely. Her ears were actually adorable, perking upwards like the ears of an excited dog. "You and that other boy were really harsh on her, huh?"

I figured she was referring to Joyce. "Um, yeah… but is it possible for me to see her? I swear that I'm not a threat or anything… see, Sans has already cleared me and–"

"Aw, don't worry about it!" She reassures me. "One of the Royal Guard has already come by to inform us of the change. Joyce and Cinder were very pleased to hear about the turn of events and your safe release." I found myself immediately doubting Joyce's reaction; she must've hidden her emotions pretty well. "If you'll just let me check for a moment whether Joyce is well enough to take visitors, I'll be right back."

"Oh, um. Ok."

The bunny closes the door in my face and I can hear her fading footsteps in the inn. I wait outside for awhile, tapping my foot impatiently on the cold ground. Looking around, I notice that there are less monsters milling around than usual. They must've locked themselves up in their homes, being afraid of new humans coming to attack them or something. I didn't know, and frankly, I didn't care that much either.

A few minutes later, the door was reopened. "Come on in." The bunny invites me cheerily.

I step into the warm-colored receptionist room of orange walls and a pale yellow floor. I definitely remembered this from the first run. There was that same crusty-looking red couch to my right – torn in some places – that caused me to deeply appreciate the skeleton brothers' own couch. There was also a tall lamp in the corner of the room, lighting up the entire area.

The bunny beckons to me with a paw. "Follow me." She instructs curtly, walking past her desk and up the stairs. I quickly follow her.

Once she's escorted me up, she stops next to a room. I recognize it as the exact same room I had slept in the first time around. It made me wonder if the innkeeper had specifically kept this room just for humans or something.

She knocks twice on the door and announces our arrival. I hear a Cinder-like voice call out, "Come in!" And the bunny nods at me before she opens the door.

Stepping onto a plush welcome mat with brown hearts, I enter a rather simple room, not to mention it was exactly the same as I remembered it. Only the furniture was slightly reorganized; the tables were moved more to the side, and some kind of doctor-looking machine was sitting next to the bed where a lump in the sheets was lying. Cinder was next to the bed, sitting in a small wooden chair. When she sees me, her face contorts into something indescribable.

"Oh." She says, "Hi Erisa."

I gulp. Clearly, she had been expecting James or Elaine to show up, not me. Joyce, however – being the lump in the bed – looks up, and almost lights up in delight when she sees me.

"Erisa!" She grins, and I notice bandages covering her face and a tube inserted in her arm. There seems to be an especially large bandage on her head, from where I had smacked her upside in the head. "Glad you could make it to my funeral."

"Joyce!" Cinder protests.

"Just kidding." Joyce laughs.

"I'll just leave you all to it." My escorter smiles, starting to leave. "Just make sure you don't stay too long. We don't want to tire her."

She closes the door behind her, leaving just the three of us in the room. Smiling sheepishly, I head closer to Joyce's bed. Cinder is giving me a wary stare, but she doesn't stop me. Knowing I have to put up an act, I try to apologize. "I'm really sorry," I say to Joyce, "About what happened. And how I acted."

"It's fine." Joyce dismisses, waving her hand and smiling innocently. "I know you were just influenced by that other dude, lied to and lead to a violent answer. Happens to everyone."

"And I'm sorry about your hair."

Joyce lets out a laugh. Cinder sighs a breath of relief, seeming glad of Joyce's quick forgiving nature and how our differences were settled so quickly. However, I don't miss the smug grin Joyce flashes at me. My whole body freezes up, and she lets out another chuckle.

"So." I start uncertainly, trying to figure out Joyce condition, "How are you doing?"

"Not well." Cinder answers for her, "The monsters don't really know how healing humans work, and they've resorted to a different method of recovery. For now, they've done the best they could in just repairing and maintaining her condition. We'll have to wait to see how things turn out."

I frown deeply. "Have you not tried monster food?"

Cinder opens her mouth as if she is about to respond, but then smacks her own head. "Of course!" She exclaims, a dumbfounded look on her face. "Why didn't we think of it before?"

Joyce makes a surprised expression at the suggestion. "I guess… since monsters don't know that monster food can heal us, it makes sense that we never thought of it."

"It had never even occurred to me!" Cinder yelps excitedly, jumping up from her seat. "I'm going to see if the innkeeper has any."

On her way out, Joyce calls to her, "If the innkeeper doesn't have any, you can always try the shop!"

Once Cinder had gone, I move to close the door again. There is silence in the room for the first few moments, but I break it first.

"That was a pretty nice act." I comment with a cold tone.

Joyce tilts her head. "What act?"

"You knew very well that monster food was a necessity to healing." I growl. "Taking advantage of the fact that Cinder was in a worried state-of-mind, you took the chance that she might forget such a fact while she was confused and shaken."

"What?" Joyce shakes her head, making a pouty face. "I've only simply forgotten too."

"Yeah," I retort, "'Cause of all people, good ol' Undertale addict Joyce would forget that now, wouldn't she?"

Joyce narrows her eyes at me, sensing my sarcasm. "Watch who you're talking to."

"Well, _you're_ the one stuck on a hospital bed."

"Honestly, it's not all that bad." Joyce confesses, swinging her arms behind her head and striking a pose of relaxation. "Even for these fatalities, it was totally worth seeing your face of shock. Almost made me wish I had a camera." She winks at me, sending shivers down my spine. What was that about? "Although, how you managed to convince Sans you were innocent is a mystery to me…"

"I told him that Cowboy had lied to me."

Joyce stares at me for a moment, blinks twice, then bursts into laughter. "Y-you _what?!_ " She's almost howling now, slapping her blankets over and over like it's the funniest thing in the world she's ever heard. "You… you betrayed your _friend_ so that you could be let off the hook! And you call yourself justice!" She continues to laugh in a crazed way, almost like she can't believe her luck.

Slightly taken aback, I retort, "So? So what if I lied to Sans about Cowboy? It was either him or the both of us, and I had to do what was best for the circumstances."

"But was that really for the best?" Joyce had calmed down now, only sending me a smug and knowing look. "You betrayed your only friend, lied straight to your crush's face, and now that you're finally face-to-face with your biggest problem… you can't do anything about it!" She returns to laughing, but it was more high-pitched and giggle-like.

I grimace. "Well, at least _I'm_ trying to save us from a horrible end." I say, thinking of the Omega Flowey ending.

Joyce finally sits up from the bed, her beady eyes trained on me. Now that she's not laying down, I can see her ridiculous short hair hanging behind her head like a hedgehog's nest. "Just admit it," She says, surprisingly serious, "You know you're no better than me."

I am about to protest, but my heart is jumping in my chest.

My memories bring back a figure of myself leaving Cowboy behind with Undyne to run away on my own.

I recall pushing Cinder in a river and stabbing Cowboy with a bleeding shard.

I feel dust.

I remember forcing Elaine to leave the Ruins with me, despite her obvious discomfort.

I realize how rudely and unexpectedly I had left her and James with Chilldrake. With no warning, and no explanation. And just now, I had basically told them they weren't my friends anymore.

I knew I had lied to Sans, more than a number of times.

But mostly, I had betrayed Cowboy's trust in me and put all the blame on him to give myself a free load. To let myself get away, home free.

Joyce is watching me smugly, seeing the realization dawn on my face. "See?" She hums, arms crossed with satisfaction. "You aren't much better than me. At least I don't betray my friends."

"You never told James you killed Snowdrake." I point out, but my quavering voice is giving away my uncertainties.

"What?" She scoffs, disbelieving. "I wasn't talking about _him_."

"Then who were you…?" Momentarily confused, I rack my mind for an answer. "But there's no one else." I say.

"That's what _you_ think." Joyce grins. "Truth is, I have more friends than you'll ever have."

"Not true." I growl reproachfully.

"But now that you've realized how hopeless and useless you are, I suppose you'll give up, right?"

"Wha-?" I stare at her incredulously. "If you think your petty insults are going to keep me from fixing this mess, then you're wrong. I'll _never_ stop until I stop you from killing Snowdrake."

She looks at her fingernails disinterestedly. "You know it'll never happen."

"It _will_."

"Try me." She smirks.

"I-" I clench my fists, not knowing how to respond. It was impossible, just like Joyce said, but I couldn't tell myself that. I couldn't let myself fall into her trap. "I _will_ stop you. I just know it." Because I _have_ to.

She grins back at me. "Prove it, then."

"Maybe I will." I say, bringing forward my arm. A yellow button appears, glowing right at my fingertips. All it would take was one course of action; one thought, a single tap.

Joyce's eyes widen a bit when she sees the button, but almost immediately, her no-good expression returns.

"Good luck, then."

I hesitate, wondering if she was just baiting me into a Reset. But why would she want that? She would just forget everything again, and it would be of no use to her whatsoever.

She grins. "Guess you were just all talk then."

Fury blazes in me, and I finally reckon that even if nothing seemed to be a gain for Joyce, I would still be able to prove her wrong in the final moments of _this_ timeline. And that was all I needed.

With a final gulp, I bring my hand forwards to the _Reset_ button.

The door bursts open behind me, but I don't turn around. "I'm back!" Then silence. "Wait Erisa, what are you-"

She never even gets to complete her sentence, since the yellow colors of the room are already spinning and spinning and mixing into an indecipherable, black void of a new timeline.

* * *

 **I've actually been meaning to get this Reset done since the last chapter, so i apologize if it feels a bit rushed...**

 **But _now_ , I can actually move onto an idea that's been sitting in my head for a long time! xD let's hope the rest of the summer is kind to me...**

 **Stay peppy!**


	12. An Arrangement

When I finally wake, slightly-translucent red eyes are peering over me.

Surprised and thinking that it's Toriel, I accidentally jerk upwards right into the eyes of the person's head… but I feel no impact. Frantically looking around, I realized whoever had just been looking at me had mysteriously disappeared.

That is, until I heard a, "Here, idiot."

Swerving around, I saw her. I froze, my back feeling chilled and cold at seeing her again. I would never forget that dingy brown hair, yellow striped green sweatshirt, and those blood-red eyes. Those _red_ eyes that had once oozed the goopy blackest, most vile thing…

Chara was back. And she was looking at me in such an amused way, I couldn't help but shiver. "You miss me, partner?"

Disbelief crawled into my mind. "Oh no." I narrowed my eyes, snatching my backpack up from the nearby squashed flowers and hugging it to my chest. "Oh nonononono. No way am I dealing with this right now."

"What?" Chara flew from her sitting position, circling her ghostly form around me. "That's no way to treat your partner in crime."

" _Stop_ calling me 'partner.' We are _not_ partners." I attempted to get away, mainly by standing up, but my legs failed me and I plopped back onto the ground. I was lacking the strength to get up, but I didn't know if it was from the fall or from my fear of seeing Chara again. Why was she back again?

"Not your partner?" Chara put on a teasing pout, "Then what am I?"

"A figment of my imagination." I guess, struggling to get myself up on two legs. It was pretty difficult, granted that my whole body was sore and aching. "An ugly shard of my past memories, dropped into a deep abyss and forgotten. As you _should_ be. Now goodbye." Finally having propped myself against the cave wall for support, I hurry onwards, hoping that Chara would just stay behind.

No such luck. No matter how fast I walked, I couldn't seem to get rid of her. "Come on now." She put on a persuading tone. "Are you really saying that none of the moments we had together were of worth remembering?"

"Go away." I grumbled, trying to ignore her from the corner of my eye.

"Well then, how about that one time I helped control your senses and you stabbed Toriel in the head?" I winced. "Oh! Or that one time where you crushed Papyrus' skull under your foot?" I cringed. "And we definitely can't forget how you choked that boy in the yellow hat-"

I knew where she was headed, and I didn't like it. " _No_." I interrupted her, coming to a stop and looking her in the eye. "We are _not_ going there." I turn back around, set on ignoring her again.

"You know you liked it."

"Wha- _what?!_ " I stop, swerving to face her. " _You_ were the one that convinced me everyone was evil, and _you_ forced me to kill everyone!"

"Hardly." Chara responds, "I didn't force you to do anything. You killed everyone with your own hands and your own intentions. You had a choice not to do it, but you did it anyway. Because you _wanted_ to."

My eyes widen a little, and I wonder for a split second if what Chara says is true. Before I can even consider the possibility, I'm already denying it. There was no way I enjoyed killing those monsters, and I had done it when I was defenseless and scared and left with no choice. What had happened had happened because of Chara. If she hadn't been there, I wouldn't have killed anyone.

...right?

I turn my head away from her. "Your lies aren't going to convince me into think anything." I say defiantly.

She grinned. "What, so you're just gonna pretend it never happened?"

"As far as I'm concerned, it never _did_ happen. And it's gonna stay that way." Feeling slightly more determined, I march onwards past the patch of grass. There was no Flowey, but frankly, I was starting to feel that his company far out-rivaled Chara's.

I took a deep sigh. It was okay; Chara couldn't get to me as long as I didn't fall to any of her tricks or words. My memory was also intact this time, so there was nothing Chara could use against me. I was safe as long as I kept myself safe.

"You certainly seem urgent to get somewhere." Chara noticed. "Why in such a hurry?"

"It's not _my_ fault you missed out on some things in the last run by deciding not to show up." I say, basically charging through the halls to try to reach my destination quickly. "Where were you all that time, anyway?"

"Oh, I just had somewhere to be." She responded casually, twirling her finger in the air. "Some new theories to try out."

"And why are you here _now_? I never asked you to come _back_ , that is, if you can even tell."

"I got bored. And…" She made puppy-dog eyes. "I missed you."

"Ha, I'm _so_ flattered." I roll my eyes. "Just stay out of my way until I finish what I need to do."

"Whatever you say, partner."

It was not an exaggeration to say that I almost flew through the rooms. I was sprinting so fast, it certainly _felt_ like my feet were flying. I had to make it to my friends as fast as possible, then reach Snowdin before Joyce did and stop her from killing Snowdrake. Not even _Chara's_ presence would keep me from saving everyone.

It wasn't only until I had to engage in battle with a monster that I realized Toriel had not shown up in the long hall. Was it because I hadn't taken a nap in the flowers this time? With no time to waste on debating possibilities, I ended up fleeing every battle.

It felt like I had reached the purple cottage in record time. Panting for breath, I stopped to take a very short break.

 _Seeing such a cute, tidy house in the Ruins gives you determin-_

" _Shh._ " I harshly shush Chara, stepping into the open doorway. She gives me a disgruntled look at being interrupted, but doesn't comment more, simply staring ahead of us expectantly.

Knowing that Toriel had to be in the living room based on… my _previous knowledge_ , I immediately headed right into the hallway. There was no use escaping the Ruins now if I couldn't come back, and not coming back would result in the uncoordinated death of Elaine. Better do this one step at a time.

When I reach the door, I don't hesitate to grab the handle and swing it open.

"Alright you guys," I speak hurriedly, "we have to-" I stop, soaking in the sight before me. Instead of seeing two people, like I had expected, there were three.

"E-Erisa!" Elaine's eyes widened with happiness. "You actually made it!" She comes forward to give me a hug, but I am too confused by the events to return it immediately. Elaine gives me a concerned look. "Are… are you okay?"

"Joyce?" I whisper, pointing feebly at her. Her head sharply turns to me when I say her name.

"What?" She asks, but I keep staring, not believing my luck. "What's with that look you're giving me?"

"You're… here."

"Well, of course she is!" Elaine replies, arms on her hips. "Remember back there, how we saw the both of them climbing this mountain?"

I rack my brain, trying to recount the events Elaine was speaking of. It seemed like ages ago. "Oh. Um, yeah." I lie. "I do."

She smiled a little sadly. "You're tired, aren't you?"

I knew where this was leading to. "Oh, nonono." I wave my hands, shaking my head. The last time I had fell asleep in this room with the rest of them, not-so-good things had happened. "Nope! I'm not tired. Just uh, surprised! Because, I totally expected the Double J's to have left the Ruins already, so I just…"

"Ohhh! That's what you meant." Elaine gave me an apologetic look. "I was actually pretty surprised by their decision too."

"I'm just staying behind for James." Joyce cut in, jabbing a thumb in James' direction. He was sitting on the bed, gaze flickering curiously between us. "He wants to wait until Toriel lets us go of her own free will."

This was old news to me by now, but I decided to act surprised. "Really?" I say.

"Yeah." Elaine nods. "So we're all going to be waiting a week. James agreed to leave with us after that."

"That is, if _you're_ willing to wait with us." Joyce pointed out, raising an eyebrow in my direction.

I stare back at her, looking for any signs of malice or anger. But her eyes showed nothing but curiosity and a teasing nature aimed specifically at me. I doubted it was an act; she looked way too genuine. I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that the impossible challenge she had laid for me before wasn't something I had to go through with after all. All her previous threats and promises of revenge in the past timeline were somehow extinguished, and I was now left with a less violent and slightly less annoying version of her.

"Though, seeing how long it took you to get here," Joyce smirks, "I wouldn't be surprised if it took you a week just to leave the Ruins too."

Alright, scratch that, she was still pretty dang annoying.

I wave my hand dismissively, trying not to let Joyce's words anger me too much. "I'll stay with you guys." I decide. Even if Joyce was being slightly less suspicious, it didn't mean I still completely trusted her. I was going to have to keep an eye on everyone, it seemed… "And Elaine, what are _you_ still doing here?"

"O-oh! Yeah, I just decided to stay with them too. And… I was also waiting for you?"

For the slightest fraction of a second, I felt a spike of anger. Elaine, waiting for me? Yeah right. Even in the first timeline, she had admitted how her choice was influenced by James' presence and Toriel's kindness. Not to mention how she had thrown away our trust in one another so easily in the last timeline... like she couldn't trust in anything important I had to say. Like she didn't care about how I had felt when the person I trusted the most turned their back on me.

Of course, this doubt only lasted for a second. I reminded myself that Elaine was a good friend. She acted the way she did because she didn't know what I knew, and that was all. There was nothing I could do to change or fix that.

I put on a small smile. "It's almost like we're all just waiting for each other." I say. "Except James is holding up the line."

"Sorry." He mumbles unapologetically.

"Actually," I start, "I haven't met with Toriel yet. You guys wouldn't mind if I just took a moment to say hello to her, right?"

"Wait," Joyce steps up, "So you're saying you just entered the house uninvited? Without any kind of warning or heads-up to the homeowner?"

"Um…" I can't help creating a perplexed expression, stifling a laugh. "I guess not."

"That's trespassing property without permission!" She huffs.

"Rude!" James seconds her with a raised hand, but it's clear by the tone of his voice he's just playing around. I can't see him on the bed anymore, since Joyce is blocking the view.

"I think I'm just gonna go…" I laugh, ducking back into the hallway. Elaine sends me a departure wave, and I close the door to the room. I start heading back down the hall.

Chara's back. Well, not saying that I'd noticed when she left in the first place, but you get the idea. "Happy reunion with all your non-dead friends, huh?" She guesses. When I don't respond by refusing to look at her, she flies right in front of my face. "Hey. I didn't come back so you could ignore me."

"I couldn't speak to you right outside their room." I whisper, now standing next to the staircase leading to the basement. A quick peek told me it was _real_ dark down there.

"Oh. Then I forgive you, partner."

"I don't _need_ your forgiveness." I retort. "Actually, I have a few questions on my mind I need to sort out, so it would be nice if you just left me alone."

"What kind of questions?" Chara prodded on, doing the opposite of what I requested.

"Just simple things." I sigh. "Like, why the heck Joyce is here."

"I can answer that one." Chara grins, and to my surprise, she answers, "It's because I'm here."

I blink at her, once, then twice. Then I start chuckling. "That's a good one, Chara."

"Wha- I'm serious!" She tells me, looking offended. "To think you would actually discredit me with all my hard work…"

"What, so you're telling me that you being here next to me or you _not_ being here is what's causing differences in these timelines?" I shake my head. "That's a little hard to believe."

"It's more than that." Chara replies, her lips pressed into a thin line. "If you don't trust me, then I'll just wait until you do. Until then, partner…" She began to fade away into the air, and in the next second, she was gone.

I huff, relieved that I had managed to get her to leave me alone. But all the same, her words left me feeling disgruntled. The topic had certainly seemed like something Chara would lie about, but… what if it wasn't a lie? What if somehow, the only way timelines were changing was because of her?

I didn't know how it could be done. How could Chara, an insignificant ghostly presence that no one could see, make a difference? How could she have affected whether or not Joyce stayed or left-

Oh wait. Maybe that was it. A stronger realization dawns on me, and everything suddenly seems to be piecing together. If Chara was changing things somehow, and Joyce was the only one being affected, then-

"Child!" I snap my head over to the direction of the living room. Around the corner, Toriel has appeared and is staring at me with surprise. "Child, are you lost?"

Had she heard me? Maybe she had heard my laughter at Chara's suggestion, and came around to investigate. "No," I respond, "I just came to say hello."

She steps forward, kindness in her eyes. "Do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins."

This time, I don't interrupt her. "Very nice to meet you." I say earnestly. "And you also have a very nice house.

She chuckles. "Why, thank you." She pauses, before offering a paw. "Would you like to hear about the book I was reading in the other room?"

I smile back. "I'd love to."

* * *

Well, this scene was certainly familiar.

Toriel was offering snail pie again, but this time to the four of us. She had asked James first again, and as guessed, he had politely refused it. Joyce was next, and she didn't do well to hide the disgust on her face. She said no as well. Toriel then moved on to Elaine, who was clearly starting to look like a shaking mess. She cast the three of us worried looks, seeming more paranoid than ever at accepting the pie. I shrug. Joyce looks at her, unamused. James isn't even paying attention.

However, Toriel spares her from having to make the decision. "I suppose you children do not like snails, do you?" She guesses. I blink in surprise at her unexpected question, but both Double J's are quick to shake their heads. I join in with them, not wanting Elaine to have to face the predicament on her own.

Toriel makes a sigh of defeat. "I suppose I've always had an inkling that you wouldn't, but I had still went along with it against my better judgement." She smiles pitifully. "I apologize for being such a poor caretaker." Elaine looks like she wants to protest, but she's interrupted by a loud beeping in the kitchen. "Please, wait here a moment. I will return quickly." She exits into the kitchen, leaving just the four of us sitting in an awkward silence.

Elaine is trembling, seeming horrified at what she had done to cause Toriel to doubt herself. Still, her shoulders were slumped with relief at not having to eat the pie, which only seemed to make her feel guiltier, leading her into an unending cycle of regret and relief. Joyce rolls her eyes, but Elaine is too busy riding on a guilt-trip to see it.

"It's not your fault." I say.

"B-but if I had just accepted it quickly, she wouldn't have had to backtrack for all of us." She looks up at me in despair. "We hurt her feelings, didn't we? Now she'll feel terrible, and it's all my fault…"

"We _all_ rejected it." I sigh, a little confused at how Elaine could be so dramatic. "But you have to admit that even if you _had_ accepted the pie, you would've been unable to eat it. You would've just left it there, untouched. If Toriel were to see that, don't you think she would feel worse than she does now?"

Elaine seems to be thinking about it. "I… I guess you're right."

"Preventing disasters early on." James whistles from the other side of the table.

Toriel has returned, but she's not holding candies. She's holding another pie. I can't help but make a face, wondering why she was bringing the snail pie back to us. Was she going to ask us if we wanted it again, instead of giving us monster candies?

Toriel approaches James and asks again, and to my surprise, he accepts. I find myself rather confused, that is, until Toriel cuts a slice and I see the filling inside. It's not snails. Toriel puts the brand-new slice on his plate, and he digs in without a second thought. Joyce is quick to notice this, and hurriedly asks for a slice as well. Toriel obliges, a relieved smile on her face.

However, Elaine only apologizes. "I'm really sorry we hurt your feelings." She says a little sadly.

Toriel only puts a reassuring paw on her shoulder. "You've done no such thing, my child." She smiles gently, "I've learned that even the best of us make mistakes, and it's these mistakes that help us grow. You all have helped me to grow so much, and I couldn't ask for more than that."

Not wanting to ruin the moment they were having, I have to suppress my urge to retort at Toriel's comment. Thinking of how unforgiving she would treat Asgore when she finally reunited with him in the end made me question everything she had just said.

"Really?" Elaine asks, hope in her eyes.

"Yes," Toriel chuckles. "Even caretakers like me make mistakes too."

After Elaine gets her slice, Toriel approaches me. Close up, I could confirm that my suspicions were right. Indeed, the scent of butterscotch and cinnamon was wafting up to my nose, right from the pie in Toriel's paws. That was what the beeping in the kitchen had been about; it was the alarm from the oven going off, signifying that a freshly baked pie was ready to be eaten. I wondered how I hadn't noticed, seeing as how it was full and uncut when Toriel brought it in, so it couldn't have been the snail pie in the first place.

"A slice for you, child?"

"Please." I grin.

* * *

"You guys go on ahead."

"You sure?" Elaine asks, stopping outside the doorway. Joyce and James are already heading out the house to go explore more around the Ruins.

As much as I don't want to leave Joyce alone with the other two, I know I have some things to take care of in private, without the others hanging around me. "Yeah." I say. "I'll help Toriel with the dishes or something."

"Oh!" Elaine's face brightens up. "In that case, I can help-"

"Not necessary." I say, shaking my head. "And… I actually had some things I wanted to talk to Toriel about. Privately."

"Oh. I… I see." Elaine nods before shrugging a little. "I'll guess I'll just leave you to it, then." She waves, then exits.

A few moments later, Chara's ghostly form reappears next to me. I can't help but give her a judging and suspicious look.

"Why is it that you only appear when my friends aren't around?" I ask, "Can they see you, or something?"

"No." Chara replies, bored. "You said so yourself, you can't talk to me when the others are around. There's literally no point in me staying around if you'll just ignore me."

"But isn't eavesdropping kind of a thing of your's?"

Chara raises an eyebrow, not really amused at my assumption-making antics. "Ditching your friends again?" She guesses instead, eyes darting to the doorway.

"This is different." I say. "I need to talk to you."

Finally, her bored expression switches into a smirk. "Really? You want to talk with _me_ , partner?" She gestures to herself, like she can't believe it.

For the time being, I disregard the 'partner' statement. "Yes." I say. "I believe in you now, when you say you're causing the timelines to change."

Chara smiles mischievously. "Finally. So what have you figured out?"

"I… was actually hoping you'd fill me in yourself?" I smile hopefully. If Chara could explain time shenanigans along with the different timeline differences, I would be up for a much better chance against the fate that was determined to kill my friends all the time.

Instead, Chara laughs. "Ha! What?" She flies in circles around me, giggling like a lunatic. "No, I don't think so."

My expression falls. "Why not?"

"What's it in for me?" Chara muses, finger on chin. "You get free information, and in return, I should get something too. It's only fair."

I hesitate. "What do you want?" I ask. "In case you didn't know, I don't plan on killing anyone again-"

"Oh, not that, partner." She teases, wagging her finger. "I only ask for one simple thing…" She grins wider. "...teamwork."

I frown. "Team… work?"

"Yes. It's when two people work together." Chara answers, eyebrow raised. "And in this case, I request that you and I work together, as a team."

"That'll never work." I growl.

"All I want is cooperation." Chara continues, "A way for us to accept and trust one another. I will help you when you need it, and you will help me. In this way, both of us will gain benefits. And you'll be my partner in crime again. How about it?" Her eye gleams, an arm outstretched. "..partner?"

I stare at her hand suspiciously. This innocent, cheesy bargain seemed a little out-of-character even for Chara, truth be told. "This isn't some trick, is it?"

"No." She answers, eyes gleaming. "All I want is to help. You will let me help, won't you?"

"I don't know." I say, not even trying to hide my dubious tone. "Your idea of helping is basically killing everyone, so I don't think you can blame me for being suspicious."

After a moment, Chara withdraws her hand, clearly looking disappointed. "Well, if you don't want any information…"

Once again, I'm hesitating. "By teamwork… you just mean we'll help each other?"

"Yes." She says. "I will give you information and help you when you need it, and in return, you shall give me information when I ask for it."

"Um… like what?" I ask. "I don't think I have anything in my brain that's worth knowing."

Chara ponders for a moment, thinking of how to stage her request. "I will ask for explanations." She finally clarifies. "If I need clarification on something, you will answer me."

I blink. "That's it?"

"Yes. And whatever 'help' means, I will attempt as well." She confirms.

"So… no killing?"

"No promises on that." She grins.

I let out an irritated sigh at the prospect. I couldn't tell what she was planning, and making deals with Chara without full understanding of the agreement was like crossing a sturdy rope bridge blindfolded… only to have it collapse on you when you were halfway across because someone on the other side had cut through it with a chainsaw. The last thing I wanted was to work with the violent psychopath that had convinced me to take genocide in the first place… but I needed information. And Chara had that.

Information never came for free anyway. If I wanted it, I was going to have to be willing to make some risks. This was a good deal, and I knew it. With hardly any sacrifices on my side, I was going to be given valuable knowledge.

Finally, my decision was made. I slowly raise my arm, extending my hand. Chara doesn't look surprised, almost like she had actually expected me to accept, and was just waiting for me to make the decision. She brings out her own arm and shakes hands with me. Her grip is strangely… solid. Her hand doesn't go through mine. When I give her a questioning look, she just chuckles.

"Nice to work with you, partner." She tells me, sealing the deal.

"Um… yeah."

The agreement was made. Hopefully, I would make no regrets in the future about this arrangement.

After all… what could go wrong?


	13. A Confession

A week had come and gone, and as much as we loved to spend time with Toriel, a promise was a promise. Even James had reluctantly agreed it was time to go, admitting that an entire week spent and wasted on waiting for things that would never happen was long enough. That had come as a surprise; I would've never expected _James_ of all people to think that way. Either way, I was relieved.

We packed whatever we had before heading down the hall to the staircase. I had to constantly remind myself it would be fine; I had saved the day before, so if anything went wrong, I could always reload.

"Maybe if we're quiet enough, then she won't notice us going down the stairs?"

I roll my eyes, trying to hold in a groan that was threatening to break out from my frustration and annoyance. Were we really going to have to go through this conversation again? For the _third_ time?

"Hm…" James ponders on the question, seeming just as stumped as Elaine. "I dunno, Toriel always seemed to catch Frisk before they could leave in the game. But taking into consideration that they're just a kid… maybe they haven't tried leaving silently?"

Joyce huffs. "Oddly stupid of them, if you ask me."

 _Not quite as stupid as the three of you._ I jump, frightened at the sudden voice that had just appeared in my head. My friends don't notice my surprise, since they were too busy discussing the chances of escaping without Toriel knowing. Taking a deep breath, I attempt to compose myself. What had that been?

 _It's me_. The voice says again.

I look around the hall, stupidly looking for the source of the voice even though it was clearly in my head. "Chara?" I whisper.

 _You know you can just talk to me in your head._ She responds, and I don't fail to hear her amusement. _You wouldn't want your friends to think you were cuckoo, would you?_

Huffing a little at her suggestion that I would've obviously thought of myself, I use my mind to yell at her a couple of times before trying to ask her what she's even doing in my head.

 _We're partners now._ Chara replies, _So I don't see why not. If anything, it will improve the level of cooperation we have with one another._

Panicked, I ask her if the deal we had made actually allowed her to control me or see all of my thoughts.

 _Of course not_. She scoffs. _You think I would trick you like that, partner?_

I respond with a definite yes.

 _That's not the trust I want to hear._ She chides me. _We're working together now, so act like it._

I shake my head, reminding her that despite this very hastily made agreement, I still did not trust her completely. One was not quick to forget mindly manipulation, especially when it was used against you to completely wipe out an entire species.

I then reminded Chara that she still hadn't given me any information. After the deal had been sealed and I had asked for knowledge, she had simply refused, telling me she would only reveal her secrets after I had helped her too. Chara had seemed afraid of me ditching the deal as soon as my curiosity was satiated. She had every right to be cautious; I didn't doubt my own ability to leave the deal as soon as possible either… but her reluctance to give me info wasn't exactly doing me any favors either. Until I was able to help her, I was going to be left in the dark.

I remembered the week before, how I had asked her what I could do to help her, and she just shrugged.

"I don't know, partner. The time to help me will come when it comes. Until then, you'll just have to sit tight and wait."

I hadn't been entirely satisfied with that answer.

"Erisa? _Erisa!"_ I snap out of my flashbacks and my conversation with Chara, turning to Joyce, who seemed to be snapping at me in a very rude manner. "Finally!" She huffs when she sees she's gotten my attention. "I was calling you out for forever!"

 _She really was._ Chara teases me. _Basically yelling into your ear with a megaphone._

I decide not to bring up the fact that there was no megaphone in sight. Instead, I tell her to shut up. "Sorry." I say to Joyce, not feeling particularly sorry at all. "My mind drifted. What do you need?"

"Elaine and James are awfully curious to try the 'leaving silently' tactic." Joyce tells me, making quotation marks in the air. "So just try not to trip on every cobweb you see, okay?"

"Got it." I respond with finger guns, trying to lighten the mood. She gives me a funny look before turning back around to follow James and Elaine down the stairs. I pout at her lack of response, but try my best to be silent as I follow suit.

 _I'll just be here if you need me._ Chara informs me. _Until then, partner._ She abruptly turns silent.

The basement surprisingly feels less dark when I'm with my friends. It isn't until my foot leaves the most bottom stair that we hear Toriel's voice calling out to us. "Children!" Her worried voice echoes into the hall, bouncing around like an invisible frisbee. "Where are you going?"

"Let's run for it." I suggest quickly.

Elaine frowns. "I think we should go back." She says. "Toriel may have something important to tell us."

Before I can make a sarcastic remark, I am interrupted. " _Or_ …" Joyce grins, "We can try to see if outrunning Toriel is an option."

James looks pleasantly surprised at the suggestion. "Let's do that!" He agrees, eager. Before Elaine and I can get a say, the two of them are already taking off down the hall.

Elaine looks like she wants to stop them. "But, Toriel…"

"She's just going to tell us snail facts, and you know it." I say. "Let's listen to the Double J's this time around, ok?"

We quickly follow the Double J's, who have already disappeared around the corner. But we can already hear loud paws stepping down the stairs behind us. "Children!" Toriel continues to warn us, "Please do not play in the basement, it is very dangerous-"

We've rounded the corner. James and Joyce have stopped in front of the door. Wondering why they haven't escaped already, I head up to them. "Is the door locked?" I ask, skeptical.

"Nah," James answers, "We're just waiting."

"Waiting? For what?"

"For Toriel, duh." She answers, like it's obvious. "What else? Clearly, we can outrun Toriel if we want, but it's not like we're actually going to."

"Why not?"

Joyce looks at me like I'm stupid. "To _fight_ Toriel, of course! We're down here for a reason, you know. We want to experience all aspects of Undertale to the fullest… and leaving the Ruins without fighting Toriel with other people would be missing one of the most heartwarming scenes in the whole game."

"Oh." I huff. "In that case then, I'll just leave with Elaine-"

"Children." We all look up, and to our amazement, Toriel is standing right in front of the doors. When we had been busy talking, she had slipped past us to guard the exit. I can't help making a disappointed expression; the hopes that we could leave the Ruins again without fighting Toriel had went away. Dangit.

"Please be good children, and go back upstairs." She tells us, her tone half-gentle and half-stern. "It is not safe to play down here."

"We're not here to play." Joyce responds bluntly. "We're here to leave."

"Leave?" Toriel looks shocked. "All… four of you?"

"Yes." I say. The rest of my friends nod to show that they did as well.

Toriel looks stricken. "You cannot! Every human that falls down here will meet the same fate. Do you not understand what will happen if you leave the Ruins?" She gulps. "You naive children… if you leave, you _will_ be killed."

"Please let us leave." Elaine pleads.

"I… I cannot allow you." Toriel decides, looking determined. "I have already let enough of you leave, but I know now that I must not let it happen again. I will have to destroy the exit." She turns around to face the door. "Do not try to stop me."

But she does nothing, almost as if she is merely waiting. We don't leave either, standing patiently. After a moment, Toriel turns back around, a helpless look on her face.

"You… want to leave so badly?" Her expression hardens. "You are really just like the others. There's only one solution to this… prove to me. Prove to me you are strong enough to survive."

I take a deep breath, hoping the fight won't be difficult. Other attempts to leave had usually resulted with Elaine's fall, but I had higher hopes this time. Joyce, no doubt an experienced fighter, would be with us. This time, we were going to make it through, with all four of us together.

It's not until a few moment later that I realize our souls haven't been drawn out. We give each other confused looks. Toriel is staring at us, her eyes narrowed warily.

"...wait." She says. "...why are you looking at me like that?"

We all freeze, staring at Toriel with shock. I couldn't help the surprised raise of my eyebrows. The dialogue that only appeared when Toriel had been killed once before was now staring us in the face. Only Elaine looks confused at Toriel's words, looking between us as she tries to comprehend the situation.

"Like you have seen a ghost." Toriel continues, "Do you know something that I do not? No… that is impossible."

Our souls are drawn out and the fight finally begins. We're still giving each other funny looks, as if we're suddenly all suspecting each other. I gulp, realizing that once the Double J's were given enough time to think it through, they would come to realize the truth.

They would realize that I, the only one who had a red soul and could Reset, was the one who had killed Toriel.

The piercing look James was giving me wasn't exactly reassuring either. He had noticed my frightened look. But there was no time for talking or arguing. Toriel was already sending her first wave of fireballs, and they sailed down from the ceiling in white and red flames. No time to waste on lingering doubts, we set our sights on the attacks. For now, we just had to deal with what was at hand. There seemed to be a silent agreement amongst us that we would undeniably talk about it afterwards. But not now. Now, we had a fight to win.

I fly around freely, taking into account everybody else's situations. James was staying completely still, curled up in a very still ball. The attacks go through him. Joyce ducks underneath and leaps above fireballs, always landing on one of her purple poles. Only Elaine looks confused, so I take it into my hands to help her once again. It goes faster to explain this time, since I already know what her ability is.

We take turns trying to convince Toriel that we want to leave. We're unfortunately a bit harsh about it – wanting to end the battle quickly so that we can talk. Only Elaine seems completely earnest, telling Toriel how she had been so kind to them, and that although it pained her to leave, she had to.

The end came surprisingly quick. Maybe it was because Elaine hadn't been in as much trouble as I had expected. It was almost as if less of the attacks were focused on her, since Joyce and James were here too. Or maybe it was because with all four of us, the fight really did go quicker. Elaine's serious tone and feelings seemed to really touch Toriel.

Or maybe… it was because I had been dreading what my friends would accuse me of after the fight. Things always seemed to go faster when you least wanted it to.

"I… I understand." Toriel finally says, looking very tired and helpless. "You would only be unhappy, trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them… it would not be right for any of you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations… my loneliness… my fear… for you, my children, I will put them aside."

The fight ends and we drop down. "If you truly wish to leave, I will not stop you. However, once you leave… please do not come back. I hope you understand."

Toriel heads forward to us, and James gives her a long hug. Joyce begrudgingly gives a hug as well, but it's not quite as long as James'. Toriel moves on to me, giving me a sad smile. I hug her without looking her in the eyes, afraid that she knows or still suspects me. Then Toriel embraces Elaine last. I can tell that it means the most to the both of them. Elaine actually looks like she's awed beyond words. I humor myself for a moment by imagining her bawling at the heartfelt gesture. I was only vaguely aware of the Double J's gazes burning into my back.

"Goodbye, my children." She bids us one last farewell before tearing her gaze from us and leaving the hall.

For the longest moment, we're only standing in silence. Elaine seems to take it the wrong way, since after a moment, she turns to us with a sad smile on her face. "I'll really miss Toriel."

The Double J's don't react to her, almost as if they don't hear her. Instead, they're staring down the hall where Toriel had left, deep looks of concentration on their faces.

"Well." I start, figuring there was no avoiding it. "About what Toriel said before…"

James and Joyce look at each other, giving each other knowing looks. I gulp at their exchange. Had they figured me out? Suddenly, the room feels even darker and colder than before. I shiver, already imagining possible outcomes to the coming conversation. How in the world was I going to duck around this? At this rate, they may even come to conclusions of their own, and without any evidence to show that I had lost my memories, they would all surely think I was a murderer…

Elaine looks confused again. "What _did_ Toriel say?" She asks, obvious bewilderment on her face. "You guys all look so… dreary."

"Erisa is slightly more perceptive than we took her credit for." James muses, talking quietly to Joyce.

"Should we…?" Joyce looks to Elaine and I, seeming hesitant. But hesitant about what?

"They deserve to know the truth." James nods.

"B-but, we can't!"

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. This wasn't a turn I had been expecting in this discussion. The Double J's seem to take my surprise as curiosity, however, and they sigh simultaneously with defeat.

"The truth?" Elaine echoes, her eyes wide.

"Yes." James confirms, gesturing with one of his hands while the other is combing his hair nervously. "It's kinda a long story."

"We don't have to tell it." Joyce snaps, looking slightly worried.

"But we can't deny that it happened."

" _What_ happened?" Elaine and I both ask, both extremely curious.

Joyce looks deathly afraid, almost like she was caught in the act of stealing the last cookie from the cookie jar. But what could they be talking about? What could be so bad, that it's even got Joyce looking this afraid?

"We should tell them." James repeats.

"They don't have to know." Joyce insists, giving us a look that I could only guess was fear. "They'll be fine without knowing."

"The cat's out of the bag. We either keep hiding this, which they'll probably find out about sooner or later, or we tell them now and avoid this situation later."

Joyce looks afraid. She's biting her lip, casting us nervous looks. Elaine and I stay silent, waiting for the Double J's to settle their argument. "Fine." She finally decides. "But I'm saying nothing. You have to explain everything."

James looks a little betrayed. "What? But you're the one who remembers everything; I can't explain everything accurately if you don't help."

"Do it to the best of your ability." She harrumphs before leaving to go sulk in the corner. My eyes follow her uneasily, before snapping back to James.

He turns to us with an apologetic look. "I guess it's up to me to fill you guys in, then."

"What happened?" Elaine asks worriedly. "Is Joyce okay?"

"She's fine." He tells us. "But there's something important we have to tell you guys."

"Totally couldn't have figured that out on my own." I huff sarcastically.

James takes a deep breath, twiddling with his glasses. "Joyce could go back in time." He blurts. At our widening eyes, he nods slowly in confirmation. "Yeah… she could use the save point to reload and reset."

" _What?!_ " I gasp in horror, not comprehending. Joyce could save too?! What? But it made no sense… maybe he was lying. I had thought with my red soul, only I could… Just how in the world was this possible?

James doesn't seem to read the question on my face, and instead plows on with the story. "When Joyce found out, she was super excited. She knew that she had to test out her powers, before it was taken away or disappeared on its own. So… we messed around with the timelines."

"Both of you?" I ask, incredulous.

"Yes," He answers, nervously making gestures with his hands. "The two of us tried many things. We said things to monsters that we couldn't say in the game. We took courses of action that would've been otherwise impossible. We stole things we couldn't take, and read signs that were unreadable. One of our tests was… um. Seeing what would happen. If we killed Toriel."

Elaine gasps a little. James was quick to add on, "Of course, we already _knew_ what would happen. But Joyce just wanted to see it in real life, for herself."

"But then you stopped there, right?" Elaine asks, sounding hopeful. "You didn't kill any more monsters other than Toriel, right?"

James makes a grim expression. "Well, after that, Joyce got pretty serious. So we, uh… kinda tried going on a Genocide run…?"

I found myself feeling sick at his words. These two Undertale addicts had actually tried doing a Genocide run _on purpose_? How could they? It was absolutely unbelievable… but seemed just like one of the idiotic somethings they would do.

Didn't they know what could've happened if they were too late? What if they couldn't have reloaded in time… and only put the Undertale we all knew and loved into a chaotic frenzy of dust and murder?

At our wide expressions of shock and horror, James was quick to reassure us. "Joyce reset right after Sans," He promises, "Since we didn't want to approach Chara."

 _Chara._ I felt a curious tingling in the back of my brain. I wondered if it was Chara and her emotions bubbling in curiousity. After this conversation, she would be sure to have some questions.

"That's all?" I inquire, wanting to be sure.

"As far as Joyce told me," James shrugs. "I mean, _I'm_ not the one with the freaky magic superpowers. I don't remember anything."

"So does Joyce still…?" Elaine doesn't finish the question, only looking pointedly towards Joyce's corner.

"No." James answers with a sigh. "Joyce noticed that her powers disappeared a few minutes before Erisa arrived." Then, they both cast me knowing looks. "I'm almost quite certain that Erisa has it now."

" _I_ have it, now?" I gulp. "So you're saying that before I got this power… Joyce had full control over it?" He nods, and I feel my back prickling with anxiety. " _Why?_ "

"I'm not entirely sure." James speculates, "My guess would be that all humans have a bit of determination, and that was what let Joyce control the timelines; despite her not being the soul of determination, she was still able to overcome Flowey's own will."

"But what about you?" I ask. "What about you, Elaine, and everyone else? How come you guys never got the power?"

"Well, there's only one possible answer." He hums decidedly. "Our determination just isn't strong enough to surpass Joyce's."

If I hadn't felt worried before, I certainly was now. Joyce's determination, stronger than everyone else's? Joyce, holding the power of saves and resets before me? Joyce, controlling the timelines however she wanted? The idea was horrifying. Who knew what she could've done? Who knew if she had even told the _whole_ story to James?

But it was okay. I had come at the right time. This time, I fell down when Joyce was on a pacifist run, so there wasn't anything killed that I had to worry about. No genocide, no Chilldrake, no nothing. I had control now. I could make sure the timeline moved the way I wanted it to.

James was staring curiously at my thinking gaze, like he was trying to figure out whether or not I was judging them, and how harshly. Elaine however, had a look of deep conflict in her eyes. It seemed she didn't quite want to be angry with them, yet she couldn't forgive anyone who had killed all the monsters before.

"I hope you're real proud with yourself." Joyce grumbled as she rejoined the group, giving James a pointed glare.

"You know I'm not." He says calmly. "And now they know, so we don't have to worry anymore."

"I don't know about that." Joyce replies, shooting us a wary glance. " _Do_ we really not have to worry about it, anymore?" At our stony expressions, she laughs. "Good job James. You've made them speechless."

"I didn't mean to." He protested.

"Let's." It was Elaine speaking up. "Let's just, go. We've been standing around here too long, Toriel might come back to check on us."

The other three of us knew the chances were unlikely, but we weren't about to defy her request after seeing her listen to such shocking news. James and Joyce nod before heading forward to work together at pushing the doors opens.

"Are you okay?" I ask Elaine.

"I just need to think." She says, her voice sounding strained.

"Oh." I nod a little. "Ok."

The four of us finally leave the battleground of Toriel's final stand. With this new tension in the air, we were sure to reach more bumps along the road, but it wasn't something I wasn't afraid to tackle head-on–

 _Hey_. There's a voice of urgency in my head.

"Yes?" I answer, a little annoyed.

 _I have a few questions to ask._ Is Chara's reply.

* * *

 **Literally have _no_ idea when the next chapter is coming. Expect much delays. :\**


	14. Experiences

**SORRY GUYS! I really had no idea it would take me this long just to update once! My apologies for the wait. T^T Still, seeing how long this chapter took to write, I think it'd be fair to say that the next one might not come out for a while either. So sorry!**

 **Still, I managed to write something out...! so, hope you enjoy reading! ^_^**

* * *

I was still a bit annoyed at the interruption, but nonetheless intrigued at the prospect of being able to supply knowledge that I knew, while Chara didn't.

 _Ask ahead_ , I grumble, rolling my eyes.

Chara appears before me, her ghostly apparition floating slightly ahead of me, but still behind the others. "What happens after beating Sans?" She asks, getting straight to the point.

 _You already know that_ , I retort, choosing to speak to her through my head. _After all, isn't that what you made me do?_

"That's not what I meant." She responds bluntly. "I was asking about what happens _after_ Sans, not what happens _to_ him."

 _Oh._ Suddenly, I think I understand what she's asking for. I hesitate before prompting: _You don't know about… Flowey?_

"Of course I know about him." Chara responds, almost snappily. "He gets so annoying towards the end, it wasn't even worth trying to keep him around if he was just going to get in our way."

 _So you would kill him!_

Chara cocks her head. "I would… what?"

 _You would've killed him!_ I repeat. _You would've gotten rid of him, just like you said._

"But I can't." Chara repeats, looking even more confused. "He's just a stupid, selfish flower. He wouldn't stay around long enough to get himself killed, even if I was hunting him down." Then, she smirks. "He should know that, surely. By the time I'm powerful enough to destroy the whole underground, he'll know he can't face off against me."

I feel like raising another point, but then I stop, not understanding. Why _had_ Flowey always approached Chara in the end of the Genocide run? Why didn't he run away, after Asgore was killed? What made him think he could get away with his actions, and then let Chara forgive him again?

It was all too confusing. Yet, I felt like I couldn't tell Chara. Telling her would make her even more power-hungry, with her knowing there _was_ a way for her to get rid of Flowey. I couldn't give that satisfaction to her.

So instead, I answer, "At the end of the genocide run, you kill Asgore."

Chara snorts, unsurprised. "I could've figured _that_ much out, partner. I was asking about the _end_. What happens at the _end_ of this 'genocide run', pray tell."

Ah, nope. _It's just the end._ I say, trying to sound convincing. _Nothing else happens, and the Underground goes empty. Then we have to Reset and start over._

Chara narrows her eyes, not looking entirely convinced. "Really? That's all?" I nod, and Chara's glance flickers momentarily to Joyce before she nods her head. Had she really believed in my lie?

 _Now that I've told you how it ends,_ I attempt, _you have to help me figure out what your role in all this is._

At this, she grins. "You _still_ haven't figured it out?" She giggles, flying around me in circles. "What a loser. I thought you at least had a brain."

I huff, irritated. "Just tell me!"

"A clue." She suggests instead, humming excitedly. "Okay, how about this? You're not the only person I've ever made a deal with."

 _Not the only one?_

"I've helped other people too." Chara grins innocently. "And they've helped me as well."

I sputter incoherently, staring at the backs of the people in front of me, wondering if Chara was possibly talking about any of them, right now. _Them_? As in, plurally? _Since when?_ I demand.

"Not anymore." She clarifies, finding amusement in my anxiety. "No, they probably don't even remember anymore. It's for the best, of course, now that you're my partner. We don't want them to feel jealous, do we?"

I slowly let my eyes scan among my friends, trying to realize which of them, _if_ any of them, could've possibly betrayed me to help Chara. Could've possibly betrayed _us._ All of us.

 _Joyce._ I immediately think.

Chara makes a tsking noise. "How assumptious of you," She belittles, "especially once they've just come clean by confessing their mistakes."

 _But she doesn't remember._ I realize, looking to Chara. _You said so yourself._

"Of course not." Chara hums. "No one remembers a thing. And neither will you, soon."

Uhhh what? _That makes no sense. I have the power of Determination, and as far as I know, no one else has more than I do._ Realizing Chara may just be trying to worry me, I add, _I have nothing to worry about_.

"Right."

I narrow my eyes. _So you're telling me that Joyce has helped you before, in some way… and that you've helped Joyce, as well?_

"That's the jist of it." Chara whistles, looking at me expectantly.

So Joyce had helped her before. Somehow, Joyce had something that Chara wanted, and was able to assist her with it. Was it just the indulgence of allowing Chara to linger around someone? Was it for her soul? Or was it for… information?

I gulp suddenly, looking to Chara and trying to see if there was a triumphant look on her face. I had already told her what would happen after Sans. But what if Joyce had already told her what the end would result in?

And if she already knew, was she simply just testing me?

 _You helped her._ I repeat, treading carefully.

"Yep."

 _...how?_

"Wow." Looking disappointed at the horrible build-up, Chara turns away. "Guess you really are as brain-dead as Flowey claimed you were. I better leave some time alone with you so that you can figure it out, right?"

"N-no, I…" But Chara's already faded away.

"Did you say something?" James is looking behind his shoulder, staring me in the eye.

"U-uh, no." I shake my head quickly. "No, nothing."

He stares at me a few seconds longer before turning back around. It's right on time, too. We've reached the end of the Ruins.

Joyce doesn't even look back to ask if we're ready to go. She's already headed forward, pushing the doors open. James is quick to help her. By the time I've caught up to the three of them, the doors are already wide open.

"Wow." Elaine looks completely awed. In front of us, drifts of white snow are raining down from the ceiling. Surprised, I step from the rocky ground of the ruins back onto the familiar slushy path of the new landscape. It really _was_ snowing. I had never seen it outside the Ruins before.

Unimpressed, Joyce steps right into the cold, trampling the snow underfoot. Perhaps she's already seen it before on one of her own runs. James glances once at the nearby bush before gesturing for us to follow, and we tread behind him, careful not sink our feet into snow. The Ruins door closes with finality behind us.

"It's beautiful." Elaine breathes, her eyes wandering around the leafless trees and above. I nod, agreeing. Despite everything that had just happened, it was still difficult not to appreciate the natural beauty of Snowdin. Especially when it was snowing, with the pretty flakes dancing their way above our heads and onto the path which we squashed.

It took me a moment to realize I was cold. Like, _really_ actually cold. The times before had always just been a nervous chill, like an uninviting wind blowing across a barren landscape, but _this_? This was something else. This was beauty and cold all mixed into one, so that I was shivering uncontrollably, but still most definitely not caring about it.

Suddenly, a huge snap echoing.

Startled, and stopping right in my tracks, I swerve around to look behind me. So mesmerized by the sight before me, I had almost forgotten about the stick. And now, looking back, I could see it.

There was definitely a new crack in those series of cracks.

"There's no need to look so scared." Elaine giggles, looking amused. "It's just Sans."

My jaw involuntarily drops open. There was no need to worry. It was just Sans. It was Sans…!

My pace quickens. I find myself going faster, eager to get to the bridge quickly and wait, to see if Sans really would come. However, Joyce is already a step ahead of me. She's already running to the bridge, looking expectant. I contemplate going after her, but realizing I don't want to look desperate, I keep a steady pace.

Elaine giggles again. "Joyce seems really excited."

I was too, and definitely _much_ more excited than Joyce, granted that this would be my first time, but I wasn't going to say it aloud. My heart was pounding in my chest from excitement. Would Sans even shake my hand, when there was three others around me? Maybe he'd think it unfair, and do nothing out of the ordinary after all.

But what was I to expect, then? Should I run past Joyce to reach the bridge first, or linger behind in hopes of receiving the handshake? Peeking over my shoulder, I try to catch a glimpse of someone following. I see a shadow in the corner of my eye, darting between the tree trunks. I shiver involuntarily.

James has chased Joyce to the bridge, and they've turned back around to face us. We're close. I try to slow down behind Elaine, but she keeps the same pace as me. I come to a stop.

"Why'd you stop?" Elaine whispers, confused. She doesn't seem to have heard anything.

I turn around. There's a skeleton in a blue jacket behind me.

"Human." He prompts, extending a hand. How had he gotten there so quickly?! There aren't even any footsteps in the snow behind him. Excitement is fizzing inside of me. Elaine has started to turn around as well, looking for the source of the voice, but she's too late. I've already grasped the hand with the whoopee cushion.

 _Pbthpbthpbthphsqweeee…_

Despite having expected it, I still laughed. Not because the situation was entirely funny in itself, but because I was relieved and glad. I was happy to have experienced this, in the very least. I was amazed that, of all people, I was the one getting greeted. I was just contented with Sans shaking my hand once more.

He lets go and pulls back his hoodie, finally revealing his entire skull. Snow is falling all over him. "Heh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick…" The edges of his eyesockets start to crinkle in humor, that is, until he stops from hesitation. "Wait a sec… have you heard it before or something?"

I blink at him, then realize the mistake I've committed.

"You turned around before I said to…" He cocks his skull. "...weird."

 _Great. A first bad impression. Exactly what I needed._

Before I can respond, the other three behind me have already started to crowd around us. Elaine especially, since this was really her first time seeing Sans in this timeline. I found myself getting pushed back, and for once, I didn't mind. I could feel my excitement and energy draining right out of me. The image of Sans' look of bewilderment and lack of trust had drilled itself into my brain. I suddenly didn't feel so special anymore.

"...whatever." He dismisses in his low voice, then continues, "You guys are humans, right?"

* * *

"Please tell me how in the world that worked."

"Beats me." I laugh in response to James' question. "At this rate I'm not even sure if Papyrus is very oblivious, or just ignoring us on purpose."

Even though there was clearly four of us, Sans had, strangely enough, directed us to the lamp anyway. Knowing we wouldn't all fit behind it, I commanded the others to hide behind the sentry station. Only Joyce had put up a fight.

"Oh please, you just want to hog all the glory for yourself."

I cock an eyebrow. "It's not my fault the lamp matches my height perfectly."

"It-" Joyce hesitates, looking between me and the lamp. Then she huffs, seeming annoyed with herself for hesitating. "How can you deny it, even after taking Sans' handshake all for yourself and then ruining it?"

At that, I snapped. "Fine then!" I growl in a whisper. "You take the stupid lamp then, see if I care." Then I quickly stormed off to the sentry station, without even looking back to see if she would fit behind the lamp.

Our position behind the sentry station was anything but unnoticeable. Joyce was shorter than the lamp by a bit, but her angle was all wrong. I could see her shoulder poking out from the side. Yet, Papyrus hadn't even glanced at us, completely absorbed in convincing Sans to do some better at his job. Elaine and I giggled at all of Sans' jokes, while James just rolled his eyes every time.

After Paps had left and Elaine had spoken briefly with Sans, we started moving ahead. Although Joyce had been with us the whole time, I couldn't help worrying until Snowdrake had appeared before us in the flesh. He really wasn't dead.

We really were safe.

"They're both so cool!" Elaine had been fangirling, seeing the skeletons for the first time. "I'd have never expected to see both of them in real-life, and yet there they just were…!"

"We'll get to see even more of them soon." I promise, grinning.

After fighting and sparing a few more mobs, in which Joyce was always messing around, we saw them again down the path. They didn't notice us until we were within close proximity.

"So, as I was saying about Undyne…" Papyrus stopped, and looked. Then he looked at Sans. Sans looked back at him. They both turned back to look at us. I had to suppress a giggle; Sans was a very good actor. They continued on like this, going back and forth. Elaine seemed just as fascinated as I was. They, unsurprisingly, also spun themselves in circles, almost like performing an extravagant dance. I was wondering why I had expected it, until I remembered this wasn't my first time seeing the skeletons do this crazy turning.

I shook the thought away as quickly as it appeared.

"SANS!" Papyrus loudly whispered, finally turned away from us. "OH MY GOSH! ARE THOSE… MORE HUMANS!?"

Elaine was giggling still. I was having difficulty suppressing a smile.

"AND THEY LOOK SO FAMILIAR...!"

Oh. I couldn't help wincing, feeling that it was directed towards me. I stop smiling momentarily, and looked over at Joyce for confirmation. She was making a slightly guilty expression herself. James had looked back to me right after, a daring look on his face, and I quickly turned my head away.

"Uhhhh… i think they look familiar… because they're rocks?" Oh right. This was a thing. Curious, I look behind me. Funnily enough, there really was more than one ice rock on the path this time.

"OH."

"hey, what's that in front of the rock?"

Elaine was now waving her arm next to me, a happy expression on her face. I joined her quickly, though I still couldn't erase Papyrus' previous observation from my mind.

"OH MY GOSH!" Papyrus continues to cheer, all the more excited at the prospect. "SANS! I'M GONNA FINALLY DO IT!"

* * *

"...you must be really good at puzzles, huh?" Sans stops me when he notices me lingering behind the group more than usual.

"I guess." I shrug, unable to look him in the eyesocket. I'd started avoiding Sans after every puzzle, afraid that he'd become more suspicious of me ever since the first greeting. Elaine could make up for my lack of enthusiasm, though. Her and Joyce alike both loved to sidle up to Sans and speak to him. I couldn't blame them, though. It was usually just me and James waiting for them to finish talking to the skeletons.

To save us time with the most recent puzzle – the X and O maze – I had suggested using the hidden lever in the tree. But Elaine had wanted to experience the puzzle first-hand, and knowing that feeling, I had decided to go with her. Joyce and James had the patience to wait on the sidelines for us as we finished. It was fun to watch the lights in the snow change shape as we stepped on them. I was really glad Elaine had convinced me to try it out.

Sans shrugs at my response. "I mean," He continues without missing a beat, his grin eerie, "It's impossible for you to have seen this one before."

I hesitate, feeling my blood pump more nervously in my veins. "...right." I agree.

* * *

It was a new feeling, to explore Snowdin with someone else. Elaine was enthusiastic as ever, and we could fangirl together over every monster encounter or pile of snow. James mostly acted cool the whole time, while Joyce liked to mess around since she'd done all of it before. Even though the company was strange, and though doing _anything_ together with Joyce after knowing what she had done seemed like an impossibility, I found that I really liked to explore Undertale with other people. How had I ever managed to do it alone in the first run?

It was actually almost like my run in the first timeline of Waterfall, with Cowboy. The reminder made me feel nostalgic. Everything had been more fun with him during that time. I remembered how he found me while I played the piano, and how we had fought mobs together with creative vigor. We had explored the watery depths hand-in-hand, and run away from Undyne with one another. Except… both times, I had abandoned him. Both times, I had left him behind.

Could I really even call myself a friend?

Perhaps I should wait until I can see him again. I'll keep going until I can find him, and then I'll make it up to him.

A voice in the back of my head is throbbing. It's trying to remind me about something in the second run I did, but it doesn't matter, since I've already buried it back in the far depths of my mind, where it'll never bother me again.


	15. Pointless Love Triangle

**Aish... it's been a long time. I'm just back 'cause I got some inspiration from a reviewer. You know who you are, probably...! (And seriously, you guys are my prime inspiration, no kidding)**

 **Just a recap, 'cause it's been so long: Frisk/Erisa is on her Fourth Run (or 3rd reset). There have been no Reloads yet. Currently, she is trying to preserve a Pacifist Route and keep anyone else from dying. She has already escaped the Ruins with James, Joyce, Elaine, and Chara. Snowdrake isn't dead, and they've made it to Snowdin.**

 **That's about it.**

* * *

The door of the skeleton's home opens in front of us. Cinder's face peeks out from the doorway. Her face brightens up at the sight of us. "You guys came…!"

I nod. "Yep, we're alive. Whoop-dee-do."

"Can we come in?" James asks.

"It's freezing out here." Joyce adds.

"Yeah, 'course!" Cinder hurriedly gestures to us. "Come on, come in!"

We step into the cozy house. Everything is still the same: the wooden table, the surprisingly tidy kitchen, and the mostly disheveled couch. Out the corner of my eye, I see Elaine introducing herself to Cinder. They both look pleased to meet one another. That was good.

Heck, just arriving in Snowdin without coming across a huge rampaging battle scene was good enough for me. And as a plus, Snowdrake wasn't dead. A relief. Now the real question lingered: what my next goal was…?

"It'll admit I'm a little disappointed. I thought we'd fight Papyrus…" Elaine suddenly stiffens at her own words, and is quick to wave her hands around in denial. "I mean! That is, not that I _want_ to fight him, of course! Just that… it's a pity we have to miss out on the experience."

"...yeah." I add in, not wanting them to realize I'd already done it before as well.

"It _is_ a pity." Cinder notes, raising an eyebrow. "His battle was a fun one. It's really amazing to feel your warm blood pumping in your veins as you jump around white bones in a frost-bitten snowstorm."

Elaine blinks, and I laugh at her reaction. "I'm not entirely sure if that was sarcasm or not." I note, smiling, and remembering Cinder's crush on the goofy skeleton. "But it sounds pretty legit to me."

"If you want, you can just go back outside and I can pretend I never opened the door up for you." Cinder offers. "I'm sure Papyrus is still out there waiting, if you want to approach him."

Elaine's eyes widen, and her eyes dart around the house, as if she is checking to make sure Papyrus really isn't home. "Really?" She grins.

"Really."

"...ok, then!" Elaine leaps back to the doorway, tugging me along. "You wanna come too, right? That is, if you want to, and you're not too tired from all the walking."

I hesitate. Great, more decisions. I _should_ go, as a way of proving my eagerness to explore things I haven't before. I can also keep an eye on Elaine. But in all honesty… I didn't want to. Elaine could take care of herself – since Papyrus doesn't kill anyway – and I was way too lazy to fight Papyrus in the blizzard again, especially with what happened last time. Especially with what happened… last time…

A memory of hot chocolate and white pupils darting in black eye sockets flashes in my mind.

"...okay." I finally agree, my smile betraying my sudden eagerness.

* * *

"I really like you." Elaine says.

I startle at her words and the sincerity behind it, but her gaze is entirely fixed on Papyrus as he reacts. "WHAT!? FLIRTING? SO YOU FINALLY REVEAL YOUR ULTIMATE FEELINGS!" He looks completely flabbergasted, almost as if he himself had even detected Elaine's sudden sincerity. "W-WELL! I'M A SKELETON WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS!"

"I…" Elaine looks conflicted for a moment. "I'm... not very good at anything." She admits quietly.

I want to tell her she's wrong, but Papyrus is gasping in shock. "OH NO! THAT HUMILITY... IT REMINDS ME OF, MYSELF!" At this, I facepalm. This conversation was starting to become difficult to follow. "YOU'RE MEETING ALL MY STANDARDS!"

I shiver. There's no huge blizzard this time, and though it's snowing and still considerably colder, I realize that my shiver had derived from something else. From a feeling of… uneasiness. Something had happened just now, from their conversation, and it hadn't felt right. But what was it? And why did I feel that way?

I was so busy thinking, I hadn't even noticed we were already approaching the fabled blue attack. Elaine was progressing the battle rather well on her own. I stayed still in the air while flying closer to the ground, and Elaine simply hovered in place with the stick held out protectively in front of her.

Then, our souls turned blue. I dropped to the ground with ease, having known it would come, but Elaine landed not so smoothly. She received a face plant in the snow, and another bone hitting her directly in the back, for which even I was barely able to hop over.

"YOU'RE BLUE NOW." Papyrus shouts, but he looks a bit worried… for Elaine, perhaps? "THAT'S MY ATTACK! NYEH HEH HEH… HEH…"

"You have to physically jump." I try to explain as I hop over to help her. Elaine picks herself up with my help, shaking the snow from her hair. Her eyes are still trained on Papyrus. "It's okay!" She says, "I still think you're a super cool dude!"

Papyrus… blushes. I can't help making an astonished expression. Such an embarrassed look on goofy Papyrus, caused by none other than Elaine, felt _really_ off. I tried to figure out why. Maybe I had just been so used to shipping Papyrus and Cinder, I'd never even considered if there were any other possibilities.

Wait… shipping? Was I really going in that direction? I laugh at myself. Just imagining any of my friends starting a romantic relationship with Papyrus was a little out of the ballpark.

"WELL… I KNOW THAT I AM VERY GREAT. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE IN THE ART OF ATTRACTING ADMIRERS, NATURALLY. HOWEVER! I AM AFRAID I CANNOT DATE YOU!" At this, Papyrus actually looks apologetic. "FOR YOU SEE, I HAVE ALREADY PROMISED ANOTHER HUMAN! THAT I WOULD DATE THEM FIRST! SO!"

When Elaine's expression falls, I feel a sudden pang of concern. I had just been kidding about Elaine having feelings for Papyrus, but if she really _did_ have an attraction… then that was going to complicate a lot of matters. I bite my lip pensively as I wait for their conversation to continue.

"I… I understand." Elaine looks surprised at this revelation – the fact that someone before her had already asked out Papyrus – and I wonder if she will bargain her way into a date. "But if your first date is unsuccessful, would you consider…?"

"HMM… I SUPPOSE THERE IS–" Papyrus suddenly startled, as if he had realized something important. "OH NO! L-LET'S DATE LATER! AFTER I CAPTURE YOU!"

Before either of us can very well react, the attacks have resumed. The whole battle is easier than the first time I'd had this fight, which could've been due to experience or the lack of a freezing blizzard. I only have a small hint of regret for losing the chance to revisit the green couch with the smell of hot chocolate filling the air.

But I had other matters to think of first. Jumping very accurately (though the same couldn't be said for Elaine), I try to stay close to her to grab her attention. "Elaine!" I shout, "Do you really have feelings for…?"

She turns to me, her cheeks flushed pink. I have no clue if it's from embarrassment or cold. "I haven't entirely figured it out yet." She admits between hops, and almost trips. I feel bad for distracting her. "In the game he was always just a character, but here in real life, I was able to speak with him during the puzzles, and… It's just, Papyrus is so _nice_ , you know? And I really, really admire that."

"Because of your soul." I realize, my eyes widening.

" _Nyeh heh heh!_ " The skeleton cackles, oblivious to our conversation.

"Is it Cinder?"

I blink. "Huh?"

"The other person who already asked Papyrus on a date, it's Cinder, isn't it?"

At this rate, I'm not sure what I should be supporting. Do I tell her what I already know is true, or should I play innocent, and plant some doubt to keep their hostility towards one another low? "I dunno, maybe."

"She's the only other girl we've met so far who's already fought Papyrus." Elaine explains. "And she's staying at their house! You know Cinder, don't you? What do you think are the chances of her falling for Papyrus?"

"I have no idea." I lie. Though maybe it isn't a lie, since I really hadn't thought it possible until I saw her attitude with my own eyes in a different timeline. What in the world should I do? "It could always be someone we haven't met yet. There's still Justice, and Bravery…"

Papyrus was still shouting. "SIGH… THE HUMANS ARE IGNORING ME!" At this, he shakes his head determinedly, waving more waves of bones at us. "HOW SELFLESS... YOU GUYS WANT ME TO FEEL BETTER ABOUT FIGHTING YOU! I DON'T DESERVE SUCH HOSPITALITY…"

Elaine laughs. I feel like I've found myself dug into a very deep hole.

The waves keep coming, and we can't talk anymore, since Elaine needs to concentrate. The fight was actually starting to become fun, just like how she had predicted. My heart was beating so fast, exhilarated in the moment. I'd forgotten how fun a battle could, or was _supposed_ to, be. So many of them had been fights-to-the-death, or just trying to keep Elaine from dying, I'd completely missed the feeling of being free in a match. I found myself twirling as I was suspended in the air, and landing on my tiptoes like a ballerina. The snow looked like confetti raining from the sky. I suddenly remembered Mettaton, and I lost myself in thoughts for a moment, remembering how three of us had fought him on that hell-bent stage.

Papyrus also keeps dabbing stuff behind his non-existent ears, which is starting to get on my nerves. "NOT TOO LONG AND I WILL USE THAT SPECIAL ATTACK!" He threatens non-threateningly.

I prepare myself, knowing what's coming. However, Elaine still isn't completely used to the moon-gravity physics of the blue soul, and keeps forgetting to look backwards. She gets bumped many times, face-falling into the snow more times than I can count. At this rate, she may become a popsicle, even without the blizzard.

Slightly panicked, I run to the sidelines where I'd left my backpack on the snow before the battle. Since it was our supposed turn, there should be enough given time to help Elaine heal up. I dig around… only to remember that there _wasn't_ anything to dig up. We'd never bought or acquired any food items on my way here – I had been in such a rush to exit the Ruins – and the four of us had already eaten all the candy available just to avoid the Snail Pie. I had nothing.

"My legs don't feel so good." Elaine admits right before the Special Attack.

I'm sympathetic, knowing it was how I felt in the first run too. "You're probably just cold and unused to the soul color change." I babble. "Well, I mean that as in like, not that I've ever _experienced_ a soul change before or anything, just that the red soul is more free. The green soul depends on staying stationary, so you're probably just unfamiliar with moving in battles at all."

"I think I'm low on health points." She mumbles, like she hadn't heard me trying to fix my slip-up.

And yeah… that was going to be a problem. As much as I loved Papyrus, I didn't exactly want to fight him twice in the same timeline. "Sorry, I don't have any healing items either. But bear with it, please, we're literally almost there–"

"WHAT THE HECK! THAT'S MY SPECIAL ATTACK! HEY! YOU STUPID DOG!"

Elaine and I stand next to each other as we watch the scene unfold. As predicted, a random fluffy white dog is already bounding away with a bone-like object clamped tightly in his jaws. I feel like laughing at the ridiculous scene, but Elaine looks genuinely concerned for Papyrus' mishap, so I begrudgingly hold it in.

"SIGH. HERE'S AN ABSOLUTELY NORMAL ATTACK."

The rows of bones approach us. I wonder if I should hold Elaine's hand through this, since the last thing I want is for her to mess this up. We jump rhythmtically. By facing opposite directions, we warn each other when something comes behind us. Easy dodgeable objects fly below our feet. Then a mountain of bones approach, slowly, teasingly.

Elaine gulps, her eyes wide. "I don't think I can do it."

"Come on, it's not as bad as it looks." I reply quickly, decisively tugging on her hand after all. She's shaky. "Do it to prove yourself to Papyrus, ok?"

At this, we jump together, flying into the air. I feel like a balloon, but Elaine is anything but. We're approaching the last, final bone faster than I'd expected.

"Fall back!" I yell, hoping to gain more time to clear over the last obstacle. But it doesn't seem to matter. Maybe we jumped too late, or maybe two humans jumping at the same time increases weight by double or something, but I could tell we weren't going to be able to clear the bone. If anything, we were heading right towards it, ready to land right on top.

So of course, the last solution that could've ever come to my mind is presented right before me.

 _Help me out here, Chara._

Before I even know what's happening, all feeling has exited my limbs. My eyes widen as I watch myself strategically pull Elaine towards me, spinning myself a full circle to swing her around and gain momentum, then finally letting go of her to fling her away like a baseball. Elaine was far away now, and safe, granted she didn't fall face-first into the snow. With a yelp, I myself slam right onto the massive bone. It disintegrates below me, and I fall. My legs move themselves, and I land on the snow perfectly, absorbing the impact through my soles. My breath isn't even hitched. But all that split-moment calculating wasn't my deed.

It was Chara's.

Feeling returns to my limbs. Suddenly, the exhaustion of the last attack overtakes me. I land on my knees, and look up to see where Elaine has landed. Imagine my surprise when I saw her caught comfortably in the arms of the one-and-only skeleton in the field.

The scene is choking me. I have no clue whether to stay baffled or laugh.

"They're cute, huh?"

I snort, looking over my shoulder to see her floating apparition. _Sure, whatever. Thanks for the last minute save, Chara. I… I guess I owe you one._

"We had a deal, partner." She smirks, teasing. "You owe me for a lifetime."

* * *

"I should really get a move on." I say.

"Already?" James sputters. "But we literally just got here! Why're you always in such a rush to hurry?"

"We have a ton of things to talk over, too." Joyce adds on, "Like, what has changed down here because we've arrived, and maybe what we should do now that we're all here…"

"But that's just the thing." I cut in, gesturing. "We're _not_ all here. Sure, there's me, you, Elaine, Cinder, and James, but that's only five. We can't very well _talk_ things out if there's still two more people missing."

"I agree with Joyce, though." Cinder puts in. "We can't very well just go barging away on adventures, and lose each other all over again. Gathering all seven of us, whoever _us_ is, may be too difficult. We may as well talk while there's at least five of us.

The so-called "five of us" were all gathered in the living room of the skeleton brothers' household. All of them were too busy trying to just _talk_ , but I knew sitting around wasn't going to do anything. They could talk all they wanted, but it wasn't going to change what I knew I had to do. I'd learned that from my previous runs that doing _something_ , no matter how useless it seemed, was still better than doing nothing.

"You guys can talk all you want." I speak my mind. "But _I_ really need to go now."

"Why?" James asks, genuinely curious. "I mean, what's so bad about waiting just a little longer? It's not like the other two souls are going to _die_ in the few days we're planning to regroup."

I stare at him. Everyone stares back.

Finally, Elaine breaks the silence. "I'll… I'll come with you, Frisk."

I'm surprised at this sudden decision, and I wonder why she doesn't want to stay to spend more time with Papyrus, like Cinder. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course! I don't want to be trapped here either… there's still so much more left of Undertale to explore!"

"I'll come too." Joyce volunteers, to which I am even more surprised at. "I've already been through these areas plenty of times, so I should know the way really well."

I feel guilty, again, for not telling everyone else what I knew. That I, in fact, probably knew the whole place just as well as Joyce. But by closer inspection, I could see that Joyce's intentions weren't all kind. There was something in her eyes, the way she looked at me to the side, as if she were trying to figure out my secret. As if she was warning me that she was onto me. She would be coming along to keep an eye on my behavior.

Cinder blinks, looking confused. "You already know the entire layout of Waterfall?"

James sighs, raising his arms. "See, this is what I mean by us needing to talk!"

"Then you two can talk." I say, grabbing my backpack from the floor. I had already visited the Snowdin shop and filled my pack with Cinnamon Bunnies. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. "I have places to be."

I went to the front door, with Elaine and Joyce moving to follow me. Seeing them made me realize I was relieved they were coming with me. Going through Snowdin had helped me to understand that exploration was less fun by yourself, and more fun with others. Right before I opened the front door, Papyrus was barging out of the kitchen.

"HUMANS!" He calls out to the three of us, looking thoroughly confused. "ARE YOU LEAVING ALREADY? AND WITHOUT HAVING TASTED MY FAMOUS SPAGHETTI? AND..." His skull shifts over to Elaine, and I realize he wants to add on that the date never happened, either.

I interrupt him before he can speak of it. "Yeah, I'm sorry Paps. I really wanted to taste your spaghetti too, you know? But there's other humans out there. People who've never even heard of you. Can you believe it?"

At this, Papyrus looks even more baffled. "THERE ARE MORE OF YOU?" He asks, his jaw tilted in a most perplexed manner. "AND THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS?"

"Never." I lie, nodding my head. "And I want to bring them back here, so they can learn about you. So that we can all be together again, here. Safe."

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY! THOUGH IT IS TRULY A PITY YOU HAD TO MISS MY WORLD-RENOWN SPAGHETTI. HOWEVER! I WILL BE FULLY PREPARED FOR YOUR RETURN!" He raises one gloved finger, looking proud. "WHEN YOU COME BACK, I WILL PREPARE A MAGNIFICENT FEAST FOR ALL MY NEW FRIENDS!"

"That would be great." I smile.

"Thank you." Elaine smiles with me. Joyce says nothing, merely looking around the house. I think she's searching for someone. Perhaps Sans…?

"We'll be going now." I nod. "Seriously, thanks for everything Papyrus."

"NYEH!"

James and Cinder have approached the doorway too, their expressions worried, but resigned. "Just… be careful, you guys."

* * *

 _The sound of rushing water fills you with determination._

"Why did you decide to come?" Joyce asks Elaine as we walk, already nearing the entrance of Waterfall. "It wasn't just to explore the Underground, was it?"

Elaine laughs a little sheepishly. "Yeah, you're right." She twiddles her fingers as she thinks about her way to explain herself. "I actually left because… I didn't want to stay with Papyrus."

"You _didn't_?" I ask, seriously confused by the mixed signals I was receiving.

Elaine nods her head. "Cinder met Papyrus first. I think, if anything, she has the right to get to know him better. It's only fair. I shouldn't be around if I'm only going to make things more difficult for her."

"Elaine…"

"I'm giving her a chance with him." She explains, no hint of regret. "If Papyrus accepts her, then that's just how it is. But if he doesn't, then… I'll make sure to come back. To have that date we promised."

"That's ridiculous." Joyce immediately snorts. Annoyed, I debate wondering if I should approach her about her attraction for Sans. But I can also see a hint of her sad smile, and that's when I know she doesn't think negatively of Elaine's decision.

"That's really nice of you." I say, to amend for Joyce's response. "Whatever you decide is your own decision."

"Yeah…" Elaine repeats quietly, her face turned towards the ground. "My own decision."


	16. Hesitation

**Although it's a pity I can't respond to guest comments, just know that I _do_ read them and appreciate them all the same! :)**

* * *

For the first time ever, Sans is actually at his sentry station. He doesn't look surprised to see us, despite us not having met him yet. But Joyce looks delighted to see him, as expected. She skips over, with Elaine right on her heels. I take my time, not really willing to face this skeleton in particular. Half was from the worry of his figuring me out, like Joyce was starting to, and the other half was from embarrassment. The last couple of encounters in all the runs had just been so humiliating with him, I didn't think I could even talk normally to him if I wanted to.

I just let myself focus on the waterfall next to us instead. The churning waters reminded me of something, and though I couldn't quite place what, I didn't really care to remember.

"I'm going to Grillby's. Wanna come?" I overhear Sans' invite. I cringe a little when I remember he'd asked me the same thing the first time around. Guess it really wasn't something special after all.

Elaine shakes her head before Joyce can make a bad decision for us. "Sorry Sans, but we can't. Right now, we're aiming to explore the next area ahead of us." I cast Elaine a grateful look, but I also feel a twinge of disappointment of losing this chance. But whatever! I had to let it go.

"Ok. Have fun."

We departed, with Joyce the least willing to leave. She made sure to blow a kiss towards Sans, but his skull was turned away, so whether or not he actually saw it was beyond me. I shake my head, dispelling all thoughts of him. I had a mission, and I couldn't let him occupy my brain right now.

We passed by the first few waterfalls. Already, the air was becoming cool and damp. Elaine became enchanted by the colors and the noise, undaunted by the long drop down should any of us trip. When Elaine is excited, I become excited. Joyce rolls her eyes as we point out familiar objects, like the falling rocks from the waterfall.

"Wait, isn't there supposed to be a tutu back there?"

I blink. "Yeah… you're right!" How had I never thought to check back there before? "I kinda want to go see it. But…" The three of us looked to the rapids, and then at ourselves. "Do we really have to get ourselves wet?"

"What tutu?" I startle at the new unexpected voice, then glower at Chara, who had suddenly appeared next to me. I make a motion with my hand that means something along the lines of _I'll-tell-you-later_.

Finally, Joyce breaks up our questioning. "There's nothing there."

I perk up in surprise, wondering if she could see through the water. "How do you know?"

"On another run." She answers briskly, crossing her arms. "I went through the waterfall with James, but there was nothing back there."

"Oh. Huh."

"I wonder why that is? Doesn't that mean, in a previous run when it was just you two," I notice Elaine wincing a little at the thought of them playing around with timelines, "someone ahead of you had already taken it?"

"That's just the thing, though." Joyce states matter-of-factly. "James and I were the first to reach Waterfall."

My mouth involuntarily forms an "o." "Whaaaat?"

"Then who could've taken it?" Elaine asks, looking even more confused.

Joyce shrugs. "I have no idea. Why're you asking me? Maybe some curious Woshua just wandered back there and decided it was fashionable."

Elaine nodded, looking slightly satisfied with that answer, but I knew it couldn't have been a Woshua. The tutu was supposed to be old: a little bit ragged and torn. OCD Woshua would never touch a filthy thing like that. He may try to clean it, sure, but he could never restore it to its former state just by washing it, and would therefore have to give up on it.

So either some monster other than Woshua had taken it… or Joyce was lying. But why in the world would she lie?

Chara tsk-tsks me. "What a bad habit. You are so assumptious, I swear."

 _I'm just trying to be cautious._ I think towards Chara. _Joyce isn't exactly the most trustworthy. Though, to be fair, I don't even know why I bother to explain my thinking to_ you _._

Chara makes a "cute" pout. I don't think it's cute, but I can tell that she expects me to think it is. "You don't trust me?"

 _You are on the "to-be-cleared" list._

As we continue, I warily watch out for shadows. I notice Joyce is doing the same. Only Elaine seems oblivious, fascinated by all the wonders around her. When the shadows finally appear, we dart into the reeds. Elaine followed, if only because she could sense our tense mood. We waited a few seconds, but heard no footsteps. Undyne, for some reason, had not arrived. On our way out on the other side, Monster Kid hadn't appeared either. I wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or uncertain. Maybe it meant we wouldn't ever encounter Undyne on this trip? That seemed a little too good to be true.

 _A feeling of dread hangs over you… but you stay determined._

As usual, the puzzles ahead of us were non-existent. But it still didn't keep Elaine from trying to explore everything, from the lilies to the crystals in the ceiling. A few muscular Aarons and wiggly Moldsmals approached us, but Elaine had gotten used to using the stick and managed rather well.

When we got to the long hallway with the telescope at the end, I decided that now was a better time than any to answer Chara's question, so I drifted myself to the back of the group.

"Finally." Chara huffs, sounding impatient as she hangs upside-down in the air. "What tutu were you talking about?"

I shrug. _Just… the tutu that's always there. Sitting there behind the falls._

Chara looks confused. "But there wasn't a tutu this time."

 _Yeah?_

"And based on Joyce's words, she'd never seen a tutu on her runs."

I roll my eyes, wondering why Chara trusted Joyce's words so much. _Yeah…?_

"Then… why in the world would any of you assume there was a tutu there in the first place?!"

Only then do I suddenly get Chara's confusion. We knew the tutu existed. But here in reality, though we'd still never _seen_ the tutu before, we still somehow already knew it _could_ be there. Because it was a game we'd all played. And that was what Chara didn't get. Because she still didn't know this whole place was just a game.

Just a game…? I shake my head at myself.

Chara has narrowed her eyes at me, looking bemused. "What in the world are you thinking of…"

"Have you ever heard of Schrodinger's Cat?" I blurt out. Only, I realized I had accidentally spoken out loud.

"Um… no." Joyce turns back to look at me like I'm a crazy person. "What is it?"

I peer ahead. Elaine hadn't heard me, since she was too busy exploding walls and reading signs. "Oh, well… it's like, this theory where if you don't know which outcome out of two outcomes has happened, then both are happening at the same time." Joyce continues to keep staring at me. Chara looks interested too. I realize I have to explain it better. "Ok, so pretend a cat is stuck in a box with a bottle of loosely-capped poison next to it."

"Very realistic scenario." Joyce scoffs.

"Even I am having difficulty imagining this." Chara agrees, raising her forefinger.

 _Why are you siding with her?_ I fume silently, but continue nonetheless. "So, until the cat knocks over the poison and breathes the poisonous fumes, it will stay alive. But the instant that it breathes the poison, it will also become dead."

"So?"

" _Sooo_ … until you open the box to confirm whether or not the poison has been knocked over, you have to assume that the cat has eaten _and_ has not eaten it. And therefore, that the cat is _both_ dead and alive at the same time."

"What in the world…" Joyce shakes her head at me, like she is confirming my insanity. "Why the heck did you suddenly have to launch this random trivia?"

Now, if only I could explain that I was speaking to an invisible ghost, matters would be much easier. But Joyce was probably the last person I would ever tell about Chara. "It's related to Quantum Physics." I attempt.

At this, Joyce looks a lot more interested. "Hm." She hums thoughtfully, and simply turns herself around without commenting further. I take a breath of relief, glad of her infatuation with Sans for once, and reminding myself to be more careful unless I want to put myself in more uncompromising situations. To the side, Chara seems to be deep in thought.

"So you're telling me that, because of this stupid cat theory or whatever, that you had all just simply assumed that unless you went in to check behind the waterfall yourself, a tutu had the possibility to exist _and_ not exist there at the same time?"

The way Chara put it just made my excuse sound stupid. As the three of us take turns boarding the one-man floating platform to get to the other side, I consider my possible answer choices. _Seems legit._

Chara is puzzled. "Really, I don't get it."

 _Me neither._ I try, but come to a stop when Joyce abruptly cuts me and Elaine off from walking further. "Now what–?"

A lightning fast spear suddenly strikes the wood in front of me, right where I would have been standing a second ago if Joyce hadn't stopped me.

My eyes widen as the spear dissipates. "T-thanks."

"Oh no." Realization is daunting. Elaine turns her head around, looking scared. "I-it's Undyne!"

"Just go!" I hiss, pushing her forward. Joyce is already on the move, spears flying all over the air around her. Elaine runs, and I watch her back as well as my own. Joyce dodges all the spears without flaw, though I couldn't say I was exactly surprised, seeing how she always seemed to like picking a fight Snowdin. As if sensing her professionalism, the spears give up and turn to us instead.

It feels like my heart has dropped in my chest. I suddenly remember how things almost turned out the first time around, and I wonder if it will be the same all over again. Except none of us were very close to Sans now… so what if it _didn't_ end well?

There's no time to dwell on it. "A turn ahead!" I warn Elaine, huffing as I pump my arms beside me. "But don't cut through if you don't think you can't make it in time!"

Elaine hesitates a little, and then goes for it. But the hesitance cost her. A spear hits her, and phases right through her midsection before her soul is drawn out and she flies into the air. As more smaller arrows rain down on her, I realize that she isn't holding her stick to protect herself. Where the heck did it go?! I feel myself sinking internally, wondering if she'll die again. Without any defense, all the arrows mercilessly hit her at once. It's painful to look at.

Her soul is withdrawn, and she slumps to the ground. Groaning with exasperation, I sling off my backpack and give it to her. "C'mon!" I say, trying to help her up. "We have to hurry, here, use my backpack as a defense thing for now, and let's go!"

She struggles up, and we make the turn. Joyce is way ahead now, like she hadn't even looked back to check on us. Guess she was pretty committal about leading the way. There's way too many turns ahead of us. Elaine is inevitably hit again. She raises my backpack above her head as the arrows rain down, and it seems to work, which is great since a spear had just hit me as well. The cold slices through my body again, and my soul is withdrawn. All I can do is take on the assault of raining spears, and then resume running. My feet feel like anvils, but I know I can't stop now.

Suddenly, the feeling in my legs have left me. For a moment, I think it is because I'd finally lost all my strength. Panic seizes me for a split second, but the trip I expected never came. My legs were still moving of their own accord. My limbs, moving all without my instruction, charged forwards straight at Elaine.

Elaine was just as surprised as I was when I scooped her up and literally leaped over the next gap, completely ignoring the U-curve. When I landed, my arms didn't let her go, though I felt surprised enough to fall right over. Her expression was the same as mine. What in the world was I doing? I screeched to a stop, took two steps back, just in time to avoid an assault of spears angled in ways I could've never predicted to dodge. Then I was back to dashing.

It wasn't me, though! It wasn't me!

I jump another gap. Elaine squeaks in my arms, and I finally drop her onto her feet. "W-what–"

"Let's just go!" I cut in, not understanding anything that was happening either, but knowing we needed to hurry in order to escape Undyne. My feet are already moving, but this time, it's me. The relief of that notion was more relieving than I expected. Elaine was right behind me – I could hear her footsteps hitting the boards.

Finally, the darn reeds were ahead. Pushing ahead, I dive straight into them without a moment's hesitation. Joyce was nowhere to be seen, but I could care less for the moment. There's rustling behind me, hopefully Elaine. There's still a whistling air above. I make sure to keep my head low.

I finally come to a stop, and hear some rustling. "Elaine?" I whisper. "Is that you?"

"It's me." Grumbles the voice which I recognize as Joyce. "Where's Elaine?"

"H-here." I hear the small reply. It seems to be sandwiched between me and Joyce. "I'm here."

I take a deep breath of relief. "That's good, then. We're all sa–"

"Shhhh!" Joyce hisses, and I fall silent to the sound of clanging footsteps. Undyne. I'd completely forgotten this part, with all the things I'd needed to keep track of. I hold my breath as I hear the steps become louder and faster. Only then does something register in my mind. Something wrong. Something missing.

Monster Kid wasn't here.

Before I can very well make sense of it, the footsteps stop, and a leg of full-fledged armor appears right in front of my face. I freeze as Elaine shouts out.

My blood chills at the sound. Something's happened to her. I want to just give up on hiding completely, but someone's hand is holding my wrist down. "Stay. Down." Joyce warns.

"But Elaine!" I hiss. "She's–"

" _Stay. Down_." Joyce orders again. Maybe she has a plan? I have no idea. My head is thrumming. I think over everything that went wrong, and why it could've lead to this. Why Elaine was always the one getting picked. Perhaps I was a little bit to the left, and Joyce was a little bit to the right, and Elaine was right in the middle and that was why…!

All I can do is stay put as I hear Elaine's muffled shouts. I want to trust Joyce, but the dreadful feeling inside me is horrifying. All I can do is imagine a towering figure in armor, and Undyne's hand clasped firmly around Elaine's neck. How Elaine is struggling, futilely clambering at the stone-like grasp. Oh gosh. I just couldn't abandon Elaine like this!

Finally ignoring Joyce's words, I whip away my arm from her grasp and burst from the reeds. But my hesitation to disobey Joyce was enough. Undyne was already gone. And so was Elaine.

I turn my head slowly, towards a Joyce slowly rising out of the reeds. "What the heck?!" I demand.

"What?" She asks, like she hadn't done anything wrong.

"You _let_ Elaine get carried away! You _let_ her be captured! And," at this, I point a finger at myself. "You kept _me_ from helping! You let me think you had a plan, or something!"

"Well, I do." She responds. I stare at her, waiting. "The plan was that you reload a Save. Things were kinda messed up this time, right? I don't think we can fix it. So you load a Save, and the next time around, I'll run alone, so Undyne chases only me. After I've run, you two can cross the bridge by yourselves and won't have to face any dangers."

I stare at her, wide-eyed. "You want _me_ to _reload a Save_?"

"Why do I get the feeling you ignored everything I just said…"

"This is why everything always goes wrong when you're in control of the timelines!" I screech. "When you do genocide. When you want to find every little change. Everything goes wrong because you don't care for the _here_ and _now_! When you think anytime something goes wrong, you can just Reset it, as if the present doesn't matter since it can just be changed in the blink of an eye!"

Joyce raises an eyebrow at me. "Yeah?"

I stare back at her, shoulders slumped, disbelieving.

She merely waves her hand at me. "Either way, we should just follow my plan, since it's good. After you go back in the timeline, I might not believe you though. So make sure you tell me the code 'Super Sensational Stardom.'"

I can't even answer. I just keep staring.

Joyce rolls her eyes, like she thinks I'm slow in the head. "Ok, well, I get you're a little confused. But I know how to deal with this, okay? I actually had a code prepared the moment you popped in, just in case weird time-travel stuff happened without my knowledge and I needed to be informed. I'm all ready for an emergency, unlike you lot. And I'm the most experienced one, so it makes sense that I run first, since I have a much more likely chance of surviving than you."

My mind drifts off to my first run, and I sadly have to agree with her.

"So? What are you waiting for? There's no need to even consider it. We've been talking so long, Undyne's probably long gone now, and carried Elaine far away."

My gaze drifts off into the distance, past the reeds and towards the direction they had left. The caves look darker than usual now, haunting and teasing. I know Joyce is right. After hesitating so long, it would be pointless to go rescuing Elaine now. Reloading a Save would be best. But it still doesn't keep me from imagining, from wondering if we should chase them down. "You don't even care?" I ask. "That Elaine is probably… _dead_? In this timeline?"

Joyce snorts. "It's… just a timeline. It can be redone. And it's all in _your_ hands. Why're you so worried?"

"You're not worried about forgetting everything, about having all that reset either?"

"That's what the code is for, smart-ass. C'mon, just go already. When was the last place you saved?"

My brain is on auto-response at this point. "Supposed first encounter with Undyne." I mumble.

"A little far." She hums. "But maybe it's better that way. We can have more time to plan. Okay, I'm ready for the reload. Remember, the code is 'Super Sensational Stardom.'"

I don't even know what to do with myself, except to accept Joyce's plan. I can't think of anything else anyway. My mind was just a muddy puddle, uncertain and unsure. At times like this, I was seriously such a failure. Maybe it was sometimes better to accept the rational rather than the realistic. Heck, what else could I even do?

Sighing, I lifted my hand. I looked to Joyce, and she nodded. Then I looked down at the glowing Reload button, and I tapped it.


	17. Still A Chance

_A feeling of dread hangs over you… but you stay determined._

I blink at my surroundings, trying to recall the last time I'd saved. I take in the sight of the reeds around me, and stare at the backs of my two companions as they walk ahead. Here… was where our first encounter with Undyne should've been. I open my mouth, about to call out to Joyce and tell her the code from the past timeline, but I hesitate.

Suddenly, she turns around. 'What is it?" She asks, looking annoyed. "Why're you just standing there?"

I gulp. No going back now. I quickly catch up to her, making sure our speaking tones were away from hearing distance of Elaine. "I, uh, need to talk to you."

She regards me with a skeptical, but nonetheless interested stare. "Well, what about it? Do you need my experience with past timelines to help you out or something?" When I give her a funny look, she jerks her chin towards the reeds. "There's a save around here, right? That's what you wanted to talk about?"

I blink at her, a little surprised that Joyce was paying attention to these kinds of things. "Yeah, there is. But that's not it. I wanted to talk about… a past timeline."

She looks away, and walks a little faster. "If you're here to reprimand me about my genocidal route, then I don't want to hear it."

I realize I need to tell her the code in order for her to understand. "Super Sensational Stardom." I blurt.

She suddenly pauses. "Already?"

I gulp. "Yeah."

"Wow." Suddenly, she looks a lot more intrigued. "Ok. What is it? What did my future self tell you we had to do?"

I take a breath of relief at finally grabbing her attention. "So, Undyne isn't here right now, right? But we'll see her later on. Once we reach the bridge, she'll show up and attack us." She nods for me to continue, and I hesitate, wondering how I should word what happens next. "Elaine… Elaine doesn't quite make it."

"Quite?" Joyce shakes her head. "You'll have to be more specific."

I sigh. "She was dragged off. Even after we had reached the reeds, Undyne found her anyway."

"Oh, I get it." At this, Joyce grins. I give her a look, annoyed that she hadn't even seemed remotely nervous for the news of Elaine's fall. "So what are we supposed to do now?"

"You said… you said we were supposed to send you first, so Undyne could attack you and leave. Then Elaine and I could cross the bridge ourselves without her chasing us."

At this, Joyce nods, looking solemn. But there was something strange about the way she held herself, as if she wasn't surprised to hear the suggestion. As if she had known I would say such a thing from her future self, as if she were even prideful of the idea. "Makes sense." She muses. "So let's follow that plan, then. Okay?"

I make a small nod, hoping I was going down the right path. As much as I found Joyce suspicious, I didn't exactly want her to be dragged off like Elaine had been. "Ok."

The two of us finally shorten the distance between us and Elaine. Elaine hasn't looked back at us once, but I wonder if she actually knows we're talking behind her back. We repetitively do everything again, or at least, only I am. The fighting monsters, the solving puzzles, reading signs. It's all the first time for Elaine, and will always be the first time for her. For some reason, it makes me envious of her.

There's an odd feeling settling in the bottom of my stomach, and it takes me a moment to realize why. The discussion about the Schrodinger's Cat didn't exist anymore. The lack of conversation was now unsettling. Should I bring it up? Do I even care about repeating something I've already done just to maintain normality?

Elaine pauses, and points. "These signs… so many monsters want to get out, but there's so many warnings and prophecies of monsters taking souls. Do you really think the monsters can make it back to the surface?"

Whoa. Another thing that hadn't happened before. Elaine's question caught me off guard, so Joyce answered before I could.

"No. They can't."

"Why not?" At this Elaine, lets her eyes wander around the cavern. "In the game, they've always been able to reach the surface. Can you imagine that? Our real life selves, living in a society where monsters can be incorporated into the world?" For a moment, I let that idea sink in. Monsters on the surface. Light shining on all our faces. Me standing next to Sans over a precipice, before a blanket of stars.

"Except there's one problem." Joyce responds bluntly. "We _are_ the 7 souls."

I frown. "What you mean is…?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Joyce shrugs. "In order to help the monsters, all of us will have to be sacrificed."

I keep walking, but it's just an outward face. Inside, I have frozen up, afraid of the chill in Joyce's words. I'd always told myself there was no way such a thing could happen, that I'd somehow find some way to rescue everyone _and_ the monsters, but…

What if that was just a pointless dream? What if it was impossible?

Elaine's eyes widen. "Does that mean we'll have to stay down here forever?"

I shake my head. "I mean, it can't be. There were people before us, right? They've even left their stuff behind: the ribbon, the gun, the–" I suddenly stop myself, wondering if I'd said too much. Was it too much? Joyce is giving me a knowing look, but I don't think it means anything. I hadn't mentioned pans or aprons, so maybe I was safe?

"Yeah, isn't that right?" Elaine nods. "The things they left behind are evidence of their presence here before us. If Frisk has seen those things this run, then it should mean we're probably safe. And if…well. If _you've_ seen some other things, Joyce, then um… that too."

"You guys don't get it." She growls. "I'd said it already, hadn't I? We _are_ the seven souls. And we're the ones that have to break the barrier. There was no one else before us."

Elaine looks startled. "But, the items…"

"Have you even ever considered that those items came from us?" At this, Joyce smirks and crosses her arms. "I mean, just think about it. Any one of us could've easily taken something down the hole with us, and left it behind in an area that conveniently corresponds to the game."

As she talks, she reaches into her pocket and takes out something. Her body covers the view so that Elaine can't see it, but I can. I stare at the ribbon in her hand, and recognize it immediately.

She sends me a smirk, speaking in a whisper. "This was mine, you know. I almost lost it in the life piles, but James found it for me." I can see the glint in her eyes as she adds, "I wonder how you knew about it before you even knew it existed?"

Elaine is too busy worrying – which I can tell by the crease in her forehead – to hear our conversation. I can't face Joyce's eyes, and she stuffs the ribbon away, back into the secrecy of her pocket. This meant so many things. This moment meant too many things to even count. It meant that the ribbon I'd found in run one was actually Joyce's. It meant that the ribbon hadn't been left behind by a previous human, and worst of all… it meant we were the 7 souls.

Then who did everything else belong to? Why the heck would someone bring down a pair of slippers, much less a pan or an apron randomly abandoned right where it needed to be? Where did the gun come from? Was there even a toy knife, or a pair of gloves? Was that why I had never seen them?

I couldn't even imagine what I would've missed out on if this Save hadn't occured.

"Almost there." Joyce announces.

"Almost where?" Elaine asks, but neither of us answer as we cross the chasm. Once we've reached the other side, the platform drifts away, and I know there's no going back.

"We'll go along as planned." Joyce nods in my direction.

"As planned? What plan?" There's a hurt expression on her face, as if she knew we'd left her out of something important. I'm quick to reassure her.

"Don't worry too much about it." I say. "Joyce has just been on more runs than us, so she gets a pretty good idea of what's about to happen next no matter what timeline. Whatever she decides will be the safest course for all of us."

"Yeah, exactly." Joyce agrees, but she's giving me a satisfactory grin that shows she's noticed my quickness to make excuses in order to appease Elaine.

Elaine blinks. "...if you say so."

Joyce waves, and disappears into the shadows. Elaine and I sit and wait on the boards. The wood is surprisingly not damp or moldy, despite standing in lagoons of water for who knew how long. Instead, they're smooth and polished, without a splinter in sight.

"No wonder Monster Kid always trips on this stuff." I mumble to myself. "Seeing how darn slippery it is."

Elaine looks over at me. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Yeah. Course she'll be." At this, I make the most sarcastic shrug I can. "Why would she ever put herself in danger?"

Elaine gives me a kind of judging look. She apparently doesn't seem to like sarcasm either. So I let it go. We wait for a long time, listening to the wind rustle through the reeds around us. It's eerie, echoey. I used to find this place beautiful and mysterious, but ever since then… it's only been empty. Dark. A little scary.

"Maybe it's time to go." I suggest.

We stand up. My behind feels cold. I shove my hands into my pockets.

"Undyne should be long gone by now?" Elaine interprets. To clarify, she adds on, "I knew it had to be about Undyne. She's up ahead, isn't she? That's why Joyce wanted to go before us. She wanted to keep both of us safe, out of unnecessary danger when she knew she could handle it herself."

It's like she's trying to put Joyce in the best light whenever she possibly can. The thought makes me more irritable than I already am. But I just take a deep breath. "Yeah, something like that. C'mon, let's just go."

The shadow appears. We're walking along the bridge, the both of us hovering towards the center. We refuse to even walk near the side of the platform, refuse to even get too close to the edge that could end up with us dropping into a splooshy death. Or maybe that's just me. Elaine is following me, so it's hard to tell if her direction of walk is of her own volition.

My skin prickles as we proceed, but it's not from fear. For some reason, I know Undyne will not appear. Joyce had been too confident, too sure that no harm would come to Elaine. And there was just an off feeling about it in general. This was what it was.

"The place is so cool." Elaine cuts into the silence. Her voice echoes in the dark chasm, and bounds back into my eardrum. "Even though it's underground, the whole place is so huge. There's so much empty space, it's a miracle that all of this can fit down here."

"Yeah… it's pretty cool."

"Frisk." She pipes up, and I look at her over my shoulder. "Are you disappointed that you had to miss out on the Undyne chase?"

I raise my eyebrows, and realize that the thought had never even occurred to me. I'd probably been chased by Undyne now more times than I ever needed in a lifetime. Which was just great, seeing that I was already living out my fourth timeline. "A little." I lie.

"Do you wish we'll see Undyne later on?"

This small talk was starting to become irksome. "Mmh…" is my non-committal response. I hesitate a little when I walk past the rigid C-curve in the bridge. Last time, I had simply leaped over the chasm while carrying Elaine. But how had I done that? Or, was it even me who did that?

We finally reach the end and begin to enter the reeds. Sure enough, there hadn't been an Undyne in sight. Still, I can't help but be cautious. I swerve my head around, trying to keep Elaine in my peripherals.

"Joyce. Joyce?"

"Is she supposed to be here?" Elaine whispers.

"I… don't know." I wait a little. No response. She'd gone on ahead, it seems. "She's not here now, though."

"Why didn't she wait for us?" Elaine asks, sounding worried. "Do you think Undyne might've chased her…"

"Nah, she's too smart for that. Let's investigate a little further ahead, see if she's just waiting beyond this reed maze or something."

We push ourselves out of the shrubbery. Ah, an open hallway. It was so strange to be at this point without any heaving or wheezing involved. My steps quicken, though I don't know why. Elaine seems to notice.

"Do you see her? Did you find Joyce?"

I have no answer. My steps move quickly, and suddenly I'm out of the hallway, and my legs come to an abrupt stop, as if all the lead in my body had suddenly sunk to my toes. Ah, I've found Joyce indeed.

Joyce standing next to a telescope, talking much-too amiably with a short skeleton.

"Joyce!" Elaine laughs a little, runs past me to interrupt the two's eager little chat. "You're safe!"

"Course I am, dummy. I said it'd be ok if I went first, didn't I?"

And suddenly, it all made a little more sense. Why Joyce wanted to go back last time, what she planned by encouraging me to restart this charade. Why she knew she had to go first, and what she hoped to achieve by reaching the other side before we did. It was all like a well-crafted scheme, a plan where I would get left behind, where I would play right into her hands. And Joyce could show me just how much control she still had over everything.

Should I care so much? I'd given up on Sans, hadn't I? And the power was still mine, after all. If I was careful, it wouldn't happen again. Or maybe it was all over-thinking, and too much calculating on my part. But the code… Super Sensational Stardom. What if she had more codes up her sleeves? I just couldn't shake the feeling that Joyce was playing with me.

It took me a few seconds to realize that I was walking myself over to the group. What should I say? How should I talk to everyone, who should I talk to? I turn my attention to Joyce first, hesitant to look elsewhere. "Hey."

"You're welcome." She quips.

"Yeah, yeah." No more excuses. I turn to Sans, taking up his presence, his lazy posture, that fateful grin, readying myself to speak like a normal human being.

"Hi Sans!" Elaine interrupts whatever ounce of confidence I'd had.

"Heya. What're you three wandering around Waterfall for?" He chuckles. "I'm thinkin' of getting into the telescope business. You guys like looking at stars?"

"Stars are cool." Elaine nods, all past tension from crossing the Undyne bridge forgotten.

"You're the real star around here." Joyce flirts, poking him in the jacket. Sans absentmindedly swats her hand away.

"I like looking at…" _You_ , I almost said. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I managed to hold it in. "...stars, too."

"Cool. You two wanna have look?" He looks at Elaine and I, gesturing with his shoulders. "It's worth a premium look, 'promise." Next to him, Joyce is clearly trying to hold in her laugh. Even if I hadn't already known paint would stab my eye the moment I looked, just Joyce's behavior was enough to give it away.

...but I couldn't say no. Not when Sans already suspected me of knowing too much from the first handshake. Not when Joyce was laughing behind my back, not when Elaine was giving me that look of recognition that told me she remembered the paint was there, that the last thing she wanted was to get paint on her eye

So I stepped up. And I stuck my eye to the scope. And I looked.

I involuntarily gasped. It was just as beautiful as the first time I looked. Just as magnificent, with crystals of all kinds of colors glittering in the ceiling, illuminating the darkness above with their little glows. As I continue to gape, I hear some shuffling behind me. I reluctantly pull away, but it feels like my eyes are sparkling. Joyce and Elaine may look doubtful, and maybe nothing was perfect, but despite all that I felt better about everything.

"Thank you, Sans." I finally manage, my first genuine interaction with him this timeline.

He just winks knowingly. "That'll only cost you 5000 g."

* * *

"Why wasn't there any paint?!" Joyce screeches later as we're traversing through the blue fields. We had already checked out the Nicecream Stand and bought one for each of us (where the last one was free, since he decided to make an exception of the "three for one free" rule). Although I knew we were just wasting precious time, I also had to admit that my mental state had improved drastically. So I willing to make some exceptions.

"I dunno," I answer Joyce's question, "I was surprised too. But why are you? I thought you would've found out first, since you got there way before we did."

"I… I made some excuses, I wasn't stupid enough to fall for a trick like that." Joyce replies bluntly, but I can tell from her tone that she realizes it was still her own mistake.

"Erisa, what if Sans _likes_ you?"

This surprise suggestion seems to take Joyce by surprise. She looks mad all of a sudden, even flailing her arms around her head in an attempt to shake off the idea. "Impossible! You two have barely spoken to each other! The telescope was probably just a one-time thing, a little detail that changes with the different timelines depending on the time we approach him."

"She doesn't need to _know_ him." Elaine reasons. "Maybe he thinks Erisa is pretty."

The guess makes both Joyce and I freeze, and I can feel myself blushing. "Elaine, it is definitely _not_ that–"

"That is most _certainly_ not it!" Joyce agrees with me.

At this reaction, Elaine giggles. "Joyce, do you… are you in love with _Sans_?"

"That is so mean of you." Joyce grumbles, at which to my surprise Elaine visibly deflates, but Joyce doesn't seem to notice. "However, yes. I do have a sort of crush on that skeleton. So he's mine, okay? You can't take him." She directs her last statement towards me, and I raise my arms in mock surrender.

"All yours." I repeat, purposefully using a robotic tone. It seems to satisfy and annoy her at the same time, so I laugh. But Elaine still looks troubled.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes after a moment, "I guess that was kind of insensitive."

Joyce turns her head away. "Whatever."

I stare at Elaine, a little confused. "Don't worry so much about hurting Joyce's feelings, she knows we were just teasing."

"I just feel like I need to watch my words before I speak." Elaine explains quietly.

"That's…" I don't have any words to comfort her. Her concern has made _me_ concerned.

We keep on trotting, ignoring the whispers of sad flowers. Onion-san appears later, which Joyce doesn't fail to insult every few seconds. Thankfully, the monster's own voice is too loud for it to hear Joyce's complaints. Elaine also looks much better, seeming delighted at the sight of the friendly, hope-filled creature.

When that's over and done, I feel my feet moving faster. There's something ahead that I look forward to, but I can't quite remember what. It feels like a second meeting, an encounter with someone I want to see. It's only when I lead our group to make a left that I remember. That I recall why I wanted to be back here so eagerly.

In front of us, with all its quietness and eeriness still intact, sits a small piano.

* * *

 **(What sucks the most about this is that I actually have this whole story planned out and I'm just too lazy to write it because I've gotten into another fandom TT)**

 **(i will just try my best i guess)**


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